A survey of public opinion on regional devolution in England has been carried out for the BBC.

The result was strong support for regional government (63 per cent), with less than a quarter (23 per cent) against. The remainder of the sample was undecided or had no opinion.

Forum Response: BBC

Andy Griffee, English regions controller at the BBC, told ePolitix.com: "On the eve of the government's white paper on regionally elected assemblies in England, the BBC's poll shows that this is a vital issue in most of the country. The devolution genie is already out of the bottle and there's no putting it back.

"The BBC has already played a leading role in enabling a debate about this issue in the North East, and we'll be at the forefront of the devolution debate as it unfolds in the coming months."