Brighton and Hove bus boss Roger French is to head the campaign for a directly-elected city mayor.

Brighton and Hove Council is staging a referendum on October 18 on whether there should be a mayor with real powers and responsibilities.

If the proposition is defeated, the city council will instead use an improved version of the old committee system.

Councillors from all four parties on the council have formed a campaign called Allies for Democracy which will press for a No vote.

But Mr French, managing director of Brighton and Hove Bus and Coach Company, will head the rival organisation called Yes for a City Mayor.

Mr French said: "It's a great opportunity for a great city and I'm delighted to be playing a part."

He added: "It is the ultimate in local democracy. Voters were never given the chance to elect Steve Bassam, Lynette Gwyn-Jones, Ken Bodfish or their predecessors as leaders but we could now have the chance to choose our city leader."

Mr French said the campaign was not party political but was about having a modern and effective structure for running the city.

He added: "Committees where no one has a say in who participates may have worked for the Victorian era.

"But we now need a structure in which dynamic leadership, freed from bureaucracy, can be held accountable for its actions combined with the involvement of everyone in the democratic process."

The campaign will be launched early next month.