THE people of Thornaby could be asked if they want to leave Stockton Borough Council in a postal vote to be held as early as next month.

The poll will be organised and paid for by Thornaby Town Council at an early estimated cost of about £18,000 and the people will be asked a simple question about whether or not they want the town to leave the council. The parish poll will not be legally binding.

There have been several issues which have angered residents in Thornaby, including the wrangling over the purchase of the Grade Il-listed Thornaby Town Hall which eventually cost the people of the town £100,000.

More recently a public consultation on creating Gypsy sites in the town was met with hostility but was eventually dropped.

A similar referendum was held in Yarm last year in which voters were asked if they wanted to join Hambleton District Council and a big majority voted 'yes.' However the Thornaby poll will not offer alternatives and simply ask if voters wish to leave Stockton Council.

Cllr Steve Walmsley, leader of Thornaby Independent Association (TIA) which runs the town council, said the poll to be probably held in February could add to the pressure on Stockton council to request a boundary review by the Government's Boundary Commission. However Cllr Walmsley did say that a brand new, smaller council made up of Thornaby, Ingleby Barwick and Yarm could be effective.

He said: "I think Stockton is the only unitary authority in the country that crosses traditional county boundaries and there's something not right about that. It is time to have a discussion and a proper review." Taking on the concerns about cost he said: "There is a price to democracy."

Leader of Stockton Borough Council, Bob Cook, Labour, said he would wait to hear what Thornaby Town Council said about the poll before commenting on specifics. However he did argue that Stockton council had good services, one of the lowest council taxes in the North-East and had invested in Thornaby with a new town centre, library and a new road. "I don't think you'll get any better services than that offered by this council," he said.

The Yarm poll was held last May and 89 per cent of voters said they would prefer to be in Hambleton council on a 24 per cent turn out. However Stockton borough councillors voted against holding an official review to look at transferring the town to Hambleton after being told a review could cost as much as £250,000. It was also argued that not all the relevant information had been put before voters.

The Yarm vote only cost about £4,000 but was not postal and polling booths were only opened for a limited time. The population of Thornaby is about 22,500, much larger than Yarm's population of under 9,000.