A 14-year-old girl elected young mayor of a Sussex town full of elderly people has called for teenagers to be given more respect.

Charlotte Lister, who will take over as Worthing’s youth mayor later this month, said people her age were “not listened to”, and vowed to use her term of office to persuade residents that not all youngsters were troublemakers.

The Davison High School pupil, who lives in Worthing which has the the highest proportion of over-85s in England, said: “I want to raise the profile of young people within a town dominated by elderly people.

“Young people are stereotyped into being hoodies that go around abusing elderly people, when that is only a very small minority. I want to break down stereotypes.”

Worthing is currently one of just 12 areas of the country to have a youth mayor but that is likely to change following a recent Government decision to provide £2 million to fund a further 20 posts over the next few years.

While the youth mayor is primarily a figurehead, with the holder given mayoral chains and asked to accompany the town’s adult mayor at official functions throughout the year, Charlotte said she wanted to use her position to influence how young people were seen in the town.

She also vowed to fight for European Union funding for projects to help the community and to campaign for a BMX and skate ramp for young people in Steyne Gardens on Worthing seafront.

Charlotte, who will officially become Worthing’s fifth youth mayor on May 22 at a ceremony at Worthing Town Hall, said she was confident her school work would not suffer, adding that she had not yet decided whether to pursue a career as a politician or a surgeon.

Tim Loughton, the MP for East Worthing and Shoreham and shadow minister for children, who hosted a forum for young mayors at Westminster last week[TUES], said: “Having a youth mayor is proving to be an excellent way of giving young people a voice in their communities, enabling young people to deal directly with councillors and other people in positions of power to get their voices across.

“There needs to be a figurehead for young people in every community.”

For more information about youth mayors contact the Young Mayor Network on 0208 688 0650.