VOTERS are now awaiting the outcome of an inquiry into proposed wide-ranging revisions of the parliamentary constituencies in York and North Yorkshire.

Experts from the Boundary Commission For England have now concluded a three-day public inquiry in York and have begun to consider their decision.

The commission proposes to create an urban York central constituency by transferring the wards of Hull Road, Bishopthorpe and Heworth Without to a new rural outer constituency.

But a group of people, led by the Conservatives, oppose these plans, dubbed the "doughnut" scheme, and have instead put forward a north-south divide which would effectively split York in two.

Assistant commissioner Edward Bartley Jones QC, who chaired the York meetings, said these difficult decisions do not begin on a "blank canvas".

He said the north-south divide proposals would involve considerable upheaval for a significant number of the electorate, something the commission is required to avoid if possible.

He told the scheme's proponents: "To erase the 'doughnut' you do not have to show that your scheme is equal, you have to beat the scheme by a sufficient margin to justify affecting more than 60,000 voters."

Roger Pratt, an expert in boundary issues based at Conservative Central Office in London, said the north-south split would not have a serious affect on York residents.

He said: "All they will have is a different name for their York constituency."

He added that the York outer constituency proposal was "unsatisfactory". It would be very difficult for an MP to serve it, he said, because it would have no natural centre or focal point."

Updated: 12:19 Friday, February 07, 2003