THERE is an old story about Igor, whose house straddled the border between Poland and Russia.

'Igor,' said the boundary markers. 'Do you want to be in Poland or Russia?'

'Poland, of course,' said Igor. 'I couldn't stand those Russian winters!'

Like Igor, we are on a fault line - between Cheshire and Lancashire and between the massive centres of Liverpool and Manchester. Prior to 1974, Widnes was part of Lancashire and Runcorn an urban district of Cheshire.

The incoming Heath Government in 1970 put through a new set of proposals, setting up Halton and putting the whole of the borough under the umbrella of Cheshire County Council, where it remained for 24 years until Halton became a unitary council in 1998.

Today, our links with the remaining Cheshire authorities are cordial and co-operative, despite our being the only Labour authority there.

Over the past 10 years, however, we have increasingly become part of the Merseyside family.

The list of services where we come under Merseyside is a long one:

* Government Office;

* North West Development Agency;

* Learning & Skills Council;

* Connexions; nWaste;

* Merseyside Digital Development Agency;

* Primary Care Trust;

* The Mersey Partnership;

* Regional Economic Strategy;

* City Region Development Plan;

* City Region Business Plan;

* North West Regional Assembly;

* Regional Transport Board;

* Regional Housing Board; and

* Business Link.

Indeed, our presence in Cheshire is now confined to the emergency services and the courts.

Last month's White Paper on local government puts great emphasis on the importance of city regions - and we are firmly included in the proposed Liverpool City Region, which stretches from Southport to Deeside and from Wirral to Halton.

Much of this is to be welcomed.

There are strong economic links with Merseyside - for example, 16.3% of households had their main workplace in Merseyside and less than 5% in Cheshire.

What is the most difficult bit is how these new city regions are to be governed. My own view, which seems to be supported by most people I speak to, is that we want to work with partners to our best advantage but not to be run from Liverpool. The trick is to keep control over Halton matters and our identity.

Can we, just like Igor, have the best of both worlds? I believe we can and will.