GROUPS campaigning to bring back the ancient kingdom of Wessex are pressing to move Hampshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire from the South East to the South West so they can form part of a new Wessex.

The Wessex Constitutional Convention, the Wessex Society and the Wessex Regionalists are challenging the Government's proposals for regional governance.

They want Cornwall removed from the South West and the remaining counties of Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire to join Hampshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire to form Wessex.

In the joint "Case for Wessex" campaign, the three groups claim that Wessex, with a history of more than 1,000 years, is made up of counties that have cultural and economic links.

The region even has its own flag - a gold wyvern on a red background - which was seen at the battle of Burford in 752AD and appears on the Bayeux Tapestry depiction of the Battle of Hastings.

The groups cite Wessex-centred organisations, ranging from health authorities and trade unions to the National Trust and the Territorial Army.

A Wessex region would have a population of 7,343,000 and cover an area of 1,100 square miles.

They are calling for an elected regional government to be set up for the Wessex area, which they argue would fit in better with the regional set-up throughout Europe.

"The United Kingdom has already changed its administrative boundaries more often than any other European Union member state. One more time will not hurt if it proves to be the means of achieving boundaries that will actually last," states the group's campaign literature.

"Throughout the 20th century, official regionalism in England has been supremely Anglo-centric, revolving around the question: 'How do we best organise England?' rather than: 'How does our geography fit into the emerging Europe of the 21st century?'

"The great advantage of a name like Wessex over 'the south west region of England'' is that it sits there as an equal alongside Wales, Brittany, Picardy, Tuscany, Flanders and all the rest. It is a region in its own right - not just an arbitrary piece of something else."