THE North West Regional Assembly has accused a business organisation of "talking down the regions".

The reaction comes after the CBI called for "safeguards" to be added to Government plans for regional devolution.

The assembly, whose leader is Bury councillor Derek Boden, says the CBI is seeking to impose artificial barriers to block the democratic will of North West people, identified through a Mori poll.

A spokesman for the North West Regional Assembly said: "The CBI may wish that there was less support for a regional assembly, both among the people of the North West and the local business community but unfortunately for them the situation here in the region is somewhat different.

"Seventy one per cent of people in the North West want regional government once its powers are explained to them, according to a Mori telephone survey of more than 1,000 residents taken in February.

"Many people recognise the need for job creation and welcome assembly powers to boost inward investment and opportunities for enterprise to begin to bridge the growing north-south divide.

"CBI claims that the business community does not support regional devolution do not stand up to scrutiny. In a fully-inclusive survey, a majority of the NWRA's economic and social partners representing more than 1,000,000 employees in the North West backed the principle of a directly elected regional assembly.

"And despite repeated requests over the past year, the CBI has refused to provide evidence of a survey of any of its members to back up claims of business scepticism."