Business leaders have voted in favour of having their city run by an elected mayor.

Sussex Enterprise asked all its members in the Brighton area for their opinions. Fifty of the 500 replied.

The result was 56 per cent for the mayor and 44 per cent favouring the alternative of having the city council run by committees.

Brighton and Hove Council is conducting a referendum of residents by post this month.

Members were also asked what they would most like the council to do to make improvements.

The top ten concerns were better traffic management and planning, better parking, improvements to public transport, regeneration, improved council management and consultation, street cleaning, rubbish collection, making more sites available for business expansion, crime and public safety and schools.

Sussex Enterprise area director Michael Cook said: "Businesses won't have a direct vote in the referendum but they do play an important role in the community. We thought it was important to let businesses have their say and the results speak for themselves.

"However the most important thing for Sussex businesses is what the council does, not who does it. Businesses in Brighton have massive concerns about transport and parking problems. They want to see whoever is running the council clean up and regenerate the area.

"Campaigners on both sides of the argument need to explain how their favoured system would be more effective in tackling the problems which city businesses face on a daily basis."

Lord Bassam of Brighton welcomed the result and said it was in line with other polls that had been taken. One undertaken by Labour Party members indicated a similar percentage in favour among electors chosen at random.

Lord Bassam added: "A Yes for a City Mayor vote is not only a vote for democracy, it will also be the people taking power for themselves away from the politicians, the secret meetings and the closed-door politics of endless committee meetings that solve few problems.

"It will be a vote for opening up the council and making it more accountable to the electors."