Baffled residents are planning a referendum to help solve a boundary dispute which means some people are paying more council tax than their neighbours.

People living in Longridge Avenue, Saltdean, are separated by an invisible boundary which runs down the middle of the road. Those living in the west pay tax to Brighton and Hove Council while people on the east pay to Lewes District Council, East Sussex County Council and Telscombe Town Council.

It means their bins are collected at different times, even though they are only metres apart. For the average band D property in Brighton and Hove, householders will have to find £781.28 for the year starting in April.

On the other side of the street, residents are looking at £674.79 for East Sussex, £108.62 for Lewes and £55.87 for Telscombe, making £839.28 Residents want the area to be united to stop some people paying more tax than others.

Saltdean Residents' Association are planning a referendum to find out whether people in Saltdean want to belong to Brighton and Hove or Lewes. Allan Stubbs, 68, who lives on the east side of the road, said: "We are not happy. We would prefer to be part of Brighton and Hove. Lewes is a long way off."

But Rosalyn Hopkins, 79, who lives on the other side of the road, said: "We are

all right over this side of the road but I think the split is daft."

Sub-postmaster Mark Coleby, whose business is on the east side, said: "It would be better to be one community. There is not really much you can do, except vote Yes in a referendum to join both sides together."

Don Burrell, chairman of Saltdean Residents' Association, said: "We are looking at the possibility of a unified Saltdean. "At the moment, people are being caught in no-man's land. It is much better to be under one authority, knowing exactly where you stand, rather than to be in a divided situation.

"We shall do the referendum as professionally as we possibly can, with neutral people judging it. Every householder will be contacted. But we will only act on the wishes of the community."

Vic Clayton, a Lewes and Telscombe councillor and a member of East Saltdean Residents' Association, does not want unification.

He warned of "tremendous complications" and said changes to the boundary would not even be considered for at least ten years.

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