THE Government was today on the verge of dropping plans to hold a referendum on whether to give the North West an elected regional assembly after East Lancashire MP Gordon Prentice savaged the proposals in the Commons.

Although Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott secured a majority of 209 for legislation allowing for the poll to go ahead last night, it now faces serious problems in the House of Lords.

And MPs have been told that ministers are ready to drop the referendums on elected assemblies in the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber regions in order to save the scheme in the North East of England.

The savage attack on the North West assembly plan by Pendle MP Mr Prentice, who joined Morecambe MP Geraldine Smith in voting against the Government, was just the tip of the iceberg of opposition among Labour back benchers.

Hyndburn MP Greg Pope abstained having earlier this week voted against the Orders necessary to hold the referendums in a Commons Committee. The proposals scraped through by one vote with the support of the Liberal Democrats.

The Government has to get the necessary legislation in place within 48 hours to hold the referendums on November 4.

With the Lords likely to reject the proposals tonight following strong opposition to holding three referendums using all postal ballots led by Pendle Peer Tony Greaves, Mr Prescott and his team are frantically scrambling around for a compromise.

It is understood that they are prepared to drop the referendums in the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber -- where support for elected assemblies is poor -- in return for keeping the vote in the North East.

There, Mr Prescott hopes he can secure a majority for the new assemblies which are considered to be his pet project. For the Tories spokesman Bernard Jenkins said dropping part but not all of the plans at this late stage was outrageous.

Last night Mr Prentice said that the regional government proposals would cause the "Balkanisation of England."

He said he welcomed the apparent u-turn, adding: "I am delighted about this. Regional assemblies would bring in coalition governments across the North West and turn local government upside down.

"You are not going to persuade people to vote for a system that gives authorities a limited range of powers.

"I have not had a single individual come to me calling for a regional assembly. My experience cannot be unique. If the government have performed a u-turn then it is the correct decision."

He said they would cost money not save it and claimed that the all postal ballot was certain to compromise the integrity of the vote.

In addition he said that turnout in the referendums in the North East could be "embarrassing" and that Labour could "lose heavily."

"If these referendums go ahead we are going to get a good kicking."

He said there was "huge disquiet" among Labour MPs in the North West on the issues and he strongly attacked the plan to merge Pendle Council into either a single tier Lancashire unitary authority or a Burnley, Pendle, Rossendale and Ribble Valley council with a population of 300,000.