Council commentary with Sandy McKenzie.

Tribute has been paid to three Middlesbrough councillors who are retiring at next month's local council elections.

Labour stalwarts John Jones and Chris Robson have each been councillors for three decades and both have served as the borough's Mayor.

Conservative councillor Liz Ward is also retiring.

At this week's meeting of the council Councillor Mike Carr, a former leader of Middlesbrough Council, said Cllr Jones had served as deputy leader for eight years. Both he and Cllr Robson had made tremendous contributions as councillors in Middlesbrough.

Cllr John McPartland said Cllr Jones had been one of the great post-war councillors of the town and efforts had been made in the early 1980s to try to persuade him to seek to become Labour's candidate for the Middlesbrough Parliamentary constituency.

Councillor Jackie Elder said Cllr Ward's excellent work for the authority included her service on the licensing committee.

Hundreds of residents across North Yorkshire are being given the chance to have their say on the future make-up of local government in the county.

The Government is considering creating a single unitary council covering the whole of North Yorkshire - the largest county in England.

The county's seven district councils, including Hambleton, Richmondshire and Scarborough councils, oppose the single council proposal. They want local people to be given the chance to have their say.

A telephone survey to gather the views of 2,000 people across North Yorkshire has been commissioned by the district councils.

Peter Simpson, Hambleton Council's chief executive, speaking on behalf of the seven district councils, said people would be asked impartial questions so a true picture of what they thought of the plans could be obtained.

He said once the survey had been completed there would be a questionnaire with all the parishes in the county.

"The parishes are going to be greatly affected by a change to a single unitary council - they would be expected to have a much bigger role to play.

"We hope the results of both surveys will be taken into consideration by the Government when they make a final decision this summer. That decision must reflect local choice," he said.

The district councils believe a single unitary council for North Yorkshire would take the "local" out of local government by creating a council too large to cater for the diverse rural and urban needs of the county.

The county council has backed the unitary authority proposal. It says it will enable local government to do an even more effective job in the county and it would provide an even stronger voice for the people of North Yorkshire.