A REFERENDUM on how Castle Point Council is run has moved a step closer after a campaigner handed in a petition signed by 4,441 residents.

Under the Local Government Act 2000, if 5 per cent of registered voters sign a petition, councils must go to the polls to ask residents if they would like to see an elected mayor instead of the current cabinet system.

Colin Letchford, 63, of Maurice Road, Canvey, has been going door to door collecting signatures across Castle Point since March and handed in the 178 pages at Castle Point Council’s offices in Kiln Road, Thundersley, yesterday afternoon.

He started his campaign after the cabinet voted to close a paddling pool on Canvey seafront and believes an elected mayor would be more accountable.

Mr Letchford said: “The petition is a response to the inherent unfairness in the present system. It has been signed by people from Labour, Liberal Democrat, Conservative and no party.”

The council now has three months to check to see if Mr Letchford has enough signatures to force the referendum.

Five per cent of the borough’s electorate is about 3,400 residents, but Mr Letchford collected extra signatures to account for people who may have signed, but not been on the electoral roll.

He chose to stop at 4,441 in a reference to a consultation held by the council in 2007 asking residents how they would prefer to be governed.

Just 41 people opted for a cabinet system, but this was enough to give a majority and the council pressed ahead.

Council chief executive David Marchant confirmed the petition had been received.

He said: “It will now be verified to ensure that it is both accurate and has been correctly presented.

“The council will then activate the processes which are needed to consider the petition and will have regard to the wishes expressed by all residents living in the borough.”