David Cameron accused ministers of offering the same thing in a different guise and called the move an attack on local government.
"If counties want to collaborate, I can see a case," he said. "But the idea of big regions and a new bunch of politici
ans is a very bad idea.
"It's a case of déjà vu all over again.
"We saw this in the 90s when our government ran out of steam and we said 'let's have a review of local government' and we got a giant raspberry back. We are getting it all over again."
Ham
He added: "Sometimes the temptation in politics when you offer people ham and egg and they say no, well you come back and say have a double ham and egg.
"And that's what happened with regions. They were rejected in the part of the country where they were meant to be most popular, the north east.
"The Government, having been rebuffed, is now trying the double ham and egg option, with another attack on local government."
The Government's plans for regional assemblies were dropped after voters in the north east rejected them.
Ministers will unveil a White Paper on the future of local government in the autumn.
They have already said they would be willing to give new powers to city regions which have a strong and visible leader.
