Councillors delivered the final blow to any hopes of Burgess Hill

having its first mayor last night.

A packed meeting of Burgess Hill Town Council decided that the position of council chairman should be kept instead.

Campaigners had asked the council to introduce the title last year and the issue was raised by councillors.

Most of the town's population of more than 25,000 were asked to give their views, but they turned their back on the issue.

Only 91 people answered a poll circulated to more than 11,000 homes.

It was distributed in the town council's About Town Magazine and even given extra time after Christmas to swell the numbers.

Although the survey showed 72 people backed the idea of a mayor and only 19 were in favour, councillors felt the low response did not give the poll much weight.

At last night's full council meeting, members backed a recommendation from its policy and finance committee that the title of chairman is kept, and the mayor idea dropped.

Opponents of a mayor insisted the existing title of chairman worked well enough.

Supporters said that it would improve the image of the town and that many people understood the role better than that of chairman.

The decision sees current chairman and West Sussex County Councillor Heather Ross seeing out the last three months of her tenure as chairman instead of mayor.

Mrs Ross, who has also served a previous term of three years as chairman, said it was unlikely the issue would be raised again in the near future.

She said: "I would have liked to have seen it happen, but I won't lose any sleep over it."

Neighbouring towns East Grinstead and Brighton and Hove, both have

mayors. But Burgess Hill has stuck with the title of chairman ever since Alfred Scrase was the first elected to the role in the late 1800s.

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