CHESTER and Wirral Labour MPs came face-to-face with business leaders, trade unionists and voluntary group representatives to make the case for a North West regional assembly.

The future health and prosperity of the people of Cheshire and the North West lies in developing a successful regional assembly, Monday's public meeting at Ellesmere Port Civic Hall was told.

One hundred people from Chester, Ellesmere Port and Neston areas packed the hall to hear Government minister Maria Eagle, Minister for Disabled People, firmly outline the advantages of voting for regional government.

The people of the North West, the North East, and Yorkshire and Humberside are to be balloted in the autumn on whether they would like three regional assemblies to be set up to take certain key decisions affecting their communities.

Ms Eagle, MP for Liverpool Garston, said there was a need for a strong 'strategic and democratic' regional assembly with the aim of eliminating the wealth gap between the North and South of the country.

'We believe elected regional assemblies are a great opportunity for the people but it will be your decision. It will be down to all of us in the North West,' said Ms Eagle, whose twin sister Angela is MP for Wallasey.

Ms Eagle said £2.6 billion of Government money was spent in the North West by Government bodies including numerous quangos, many managed by civil servants with no direct knowledge of the region.

'What is missing is regional accountability, and the implications of not having that can be bad for the regions.'

She added: 'By any economic measure the north has been falling behind the south for decades.' A small regional assembly, a body with about 25-35 members costing about £25m a year to run, would make the 'big long-term decisions', said Ms Eagle.

'The aim would be a better quality of life for the people from the point of view of the region, not some civil servant wondering what it might mean for the North West.' The aim would also be to allocate the billions the Government spends in the region more effectively, with the potential for cost savings and an overriding wish to eliminate health and other inequalities.

Ms Eagle's view was given a warm reception by most members of the audience, invited to the meeting by Chester MP Christine Russell and Ellesmere Port and Neston MP Andrew Miller.

Sharing the top table with the politicians were Alan Manning, regional secretary of the TUC and Dr Paul Harding, manager director of URENCO, Capenhurst Ltd who gave their clear backing for a regional assembly to tackle major strategic infrastructure issues covering air, rail and road links as well as water and electricity supplies.

Dr Harding and other business leaders, including Ken Rivers from Shell in Ellesmere Port, told how difficult it could be to find the right people to consult about key decisions affecting the region because of the fragmented structure of existing bodies with devolved powers in the North West.

Ms Eagle told them: 'The regional assembly would be a one-stop shop.'

Mr Rivers said anything that would simplify the existing system would be appreciated, adding: 'I truly support the direction we are going in.'

Mrs Russell said there had been a considerable amount of negativity and scare-mongering about regional assemblies.

There was no plan to strip local authorities of their existing powers, she said, rather to take powers from central government and devolve responsibility for certain spending priorities to the region. She said she hoped the audience now had a more complete understanding of the proposal.

'There is no plan to foist regional assemblies on the people,' she said. 'We have a democratic choice and it will be up to you to vote 'yes' or 'no'.'

Most people in the audience supported the idea but there were charges from three Conservative Ellesmere Port and Neston borough councillors and a representative of Hooton WI that Ms Eagle had failed to answer questions about the cost of setting up regional government, an accusation she strongly denied.