Tony Blair has received a "bloody nose" from readers of the Newcastle Evening Chronicle after the results of its Big Poll showed that more than two thirds of those questioned do not trust him.

The survey, which was the biggest carried out by the Chronicle, focused on Labour's policies and their effects on life in the North East.

And only hours after the Prime Minister received a standing ovation at the Labour Party's Brighton Conference, the findings revealed that support for Labour is stalling.

The results were published in the Chronicle this week after 1,115 readers responded to the 50-question poll run by the paper's features department.

Features editor Richard Ord said: "We received a fantastic response from readers which produced some fascinating results.

"Tony Blair received a bloody nose from our readers, with more than 73 per cent of respondents saying they do not trust him and 72 per cent calling for our troops to be pulled out of Iraq."

An overwhelming 90.4 per cent also said they felt that society is too soft on youth crime, with 70 per cent calling for the return of capital punishment.

But despite readers' deep concerns, almost nine out of every ten questioned said they were happy to be living in the North East region.

Richard said: "As a paper we try to interact with our readers every day. We have numerous entry points into the paper such as e-mail, voicemail, text messaging and letters.

"The poll was a great example of our interactive policy. We will certainly be running a similar poll in the future."

Do you have a story about the regional press? Ring 0116 227 3122/3121, or
e-mail pastill@nep.co.uk