A referendum to draw up new boundaries in Saltdean has been branded a waste of time by a leading Government official.

Barbara Stephens, chief executive of the Local Government Commission, said a poll planned for next month would have no impact on the boundaries.

We reported towards the end of last year how residents in Saltdean will be asked what they make of plans to draw up new boundaries.

The referendum is being held to decide whether residents are part of Lewes, or Brighton and Hove, and residents have been leafleted on the poll.

At the moment, Saltdean, stretching from Rottingdean Heights in the West to Telscombe Tye in the East, is controlled by Brighton and Hove unitary authority in the west and Lewes District Council, Telscombe Town Council and East Sussex County Council in the east.

The dividing line is Longridge Avenue.

Residents in the East pay more in community charge than almost anywhere else in East Sussex because they pay for three levels of local government. In the West there is just one payment to Brighton and Hove.

But residents in East Saltdean say there is greater accountability in their area because they are under the control of a town, district and a county council.

Now Mrs Stephens has said it does not matter how many voters turn out in the poll, planned for next month, because nothing can be done until 2003 at the earliest.

She said: "The boundaries of local authorities can only be considered by the Secretary of State John Prescott. We cannot do it off our own bat.

"We have to be directed to do so. We are fully occupied with electoral reviews and Mr Prescott has stated that he is not minded to direct us to do any boundary reviews until we have finished that programme which will not be until 2003.

"So it does not matter how many signatures they get or how overwhelming the result because there is nothing we can do about it."