"WELCOME to Yorkshire" signs could be installed south of the River Tees at Yarm - but the signs alone will not appease residents who want a return toYorkshire, an MP has claimed.

James Wharton, the Conservative MP for Stockton South, has welcomed the idea for the signs but said it would not be enough.

Stockton Council has agreed to consider the signs after a request from Mr Wharton's rival, the Labour candidate for Stockton South, Louise Baldock.

She wrote to Stockton Council suggesting the signs after more than 90 per cent of people who voted in a poll last week favoured Yarm leaving Stockton borough and joining Hambleton District Council.

Stockton council has said it will consider putting up the signs - and the Yorkshire Ridings Society said it has offered to pay.

But Mr Wharton said: "Welcome to Yorkshire signs would be a nice touch, but this does nothing to address the bigger issues and they haven't even been promised. All we have is a commitment from the council to think about it."

He accused Stockton council of "riding roughshod" over the views of residents, with parking charges, the removal of cobbles in Yarm and the volume of new housing developments planned for the area.

"This is not just about the historic Yorkshire identity of many of our communities, though that is an important factor, it is an expression of anger by people who feel they are being ignored and taken for granted."

But Stockton council's leader Bob Cook said legislation on putting up new signs had recently changed and officers had to look at the new rules before giving any firm commitment.

He also said that the council's planning committee was constrained by the Government's national policy planning framework, which has relaxed restrictions on building on greenfield land.

"This is not a problem unique to Stockton and Yarm," he said. "People all over the country are aggrieved by the Government's planning rules which mean councils have to approve planning applications on more greenfield land.

"Parking charges are also an issue across the country - it is not a problem unique to Yarm."

Chris Abbott, chair of the Yorkshire Ridings Society, said: "The Yorkshire Ridings Society has offered to pay for signs to be erected on bridges on the Yorkshire side of the River Tees in the borough of Stockton on Tees on numerous occasions over the past ten years.

"We are delighted the leader of the council is now prepared to consider this. We will be happy to discuss with the council our offer to raise the money for them."