A former councillor who was embroiled in an expenses scandal and a Green leader who flew to a climate summit should not be honoured by the council, residents have demanded.

Former Green councillor Alex Phillips and former Green council leader Phelim Mac Cafferty will receive the titles of Honorary Alderwoman and Alderman of Brighton and Hove after both serving for more than a decade as councillors in the city.

However, calls have been made for the offer to be withdrawn to Ms Phillips due to an expenses scandal which saw the former Green councillor repay almost £500 to the council.

Ms Phillips, who represented Regency ward and served as mayor of the city from 2019 to 2020, was found to have overclaimed taxpayers’ money for 55 of 74 childcare expense claims between October 2019 and March 2021.

On three occasions, she claimed back money from residents for childcare which did not take place as she and her family were stranded in France at the height of the pandemic.

An independent inquiry found that Ms Phillips, wife of former councillor and Big Lemon CEO Tom Druitt, had overclaimed up to £482.34 across 55 of her 74 childcare expense claims between October 2019 and March 2021.

Following the inquiry last year, Ms Phillips apologised for the “small number of claims I made which were not in line with the council expenses policy” and repaid £490.

Prior to the investigation, Mr Druitt told The Argus that it was “not really for other people to judge if people have made personal choices to claim expenses to which they are perfectly entitled”.

The couple both served as councillors for Regency ward but stood down at the last local election, where the Greens lost one of the seats to Labour, by just one vote.

Laura King, spokeswoman for the Friends of Brighton and Hove Citizens’ Action Group, who lost out as an independent candidate in Hanover and Elm Grove ward, said that neither Ms Phillips nor Phelim Mac Cafferty - who is also set to be awarded the title of Honorary Alderman, are suitable to hold the ceremonial position.

She said: “Alex Phillips falsely overclaimed childcare, which she demonstrably could not have used from her second home in France during lockdown.

“It took two years of constant pushing before the council carried out a review of her expense claims.

“Mr Mac Cafferty flew in a plane to the COP 26 climate conference in Glasgow to make a speech criticising the government for not doing enough about climate change. Hypocritical enough as a Green councillor, but he was the council leader at the time.

“While we appreciate there is a tradition of awarding long-serving Brighton and Hove councillors with an honorary title, in the case of former councillors Phelim Mac Cafferty and Alex Phillips, we believe this honour is invalidated by them bringing Brighton and Hove into disrepute.”

Gary Farmer, founder of the Old Steine Community Association, echoed the sentiment and said Ms Phillips should be denied the honour, which is regarded as a “mark of recognition for the work and commitment given by a former councillor to the authority, their ward and the city”.

Mr Farmer, who ran as a Brighton and Hove Independent candidate in Regency ward in the local election, said: “Her disrespect for the electorate is beyond shameful.

“To reward her is scandalous and shows nothing has changed within the governance of the city after May 4 - there is nothing “exceptional” about her record except her anonymity.”

The position of Honorary Alderman or Alderwoman does not grant the holder any rights or remuneration and is granted for “exceptional service to the council” over at least 12 years.

Seven other former councillors are also set to be awarded with the ceremonial title; namely Dawn Barnett, Tony Janio, Leo Littman, Lizzie Deane, Mary Mears, Vanessa Brown and Dee Simson.

A representative for the local Green Party said: "Between Alex, Phelim, Lizzie and Leo, there are over 50 years of service to this city and to Regency, St Peter's and North Laine, Preston Park and Brunswick and Adelaide wards.

"Alex was the youngest ever mayor of Brighton and Hove, and the second-longest serving Green councillor until she stepped down. As part of the administration from 2011 to 2015, and recently from 2020, Leo led on finance and planning. Lizzie was deputy chair and chair of licensing. Phelim was chair of planning and then leader of the opposition and of the council during some of the most difficult and thankless periods the city has faced - his leadership got us through it.

"The city owes these people a great deal. Whilst none of them did it for credit or career, I am pleased that through this we can give them some recognition."

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: "The titles of alderman and alderwoman exist in order to honour councillors for the hard work they have put in on behalf of their constituents for the city's benefit."