A referendum which would have forced a council to cut services has been abandoned.

Lancing Parish Council confirmed a poll on whether Britain should adopt the euro had been scrapped.

Its cancellation could save the council up to £6,000.

Council chairman Joy Hartley said: "We would have had to pay for staging the referendum and it was money we could ill afford.

"We are a small parish with a tight budget to keep to and I can't see the referendum serving any benefit at all."

The poll, which was scheduled to be held on Thursday, October 5, was called by 19 Eurosceptics from Lancing under an obscure law.

The group believed the poll was the only way people could make their views on the Euro known because the Government had failed to stage a national referendum.

But yesterday Ian Lowrie, returning officer for Adur District Council, which would have run the referendum, said it was not valid.

He said: "We took top legal advice and were told because it was a national issue and not a local one it fell outside the powers for parish polls.

"If we went ahead with the poll we could be challenged for doing something which is not covered by the rules."

Under the Local Government Act, a parish or town has to hold a referendum if six electors call a public meeting and ten constituents support their resolution.

A spokesman for Adur Council said: "It is a lot of money to spend for something which would have had a low turnout.

"It is a neat piece of legislation which enables local people to be consulted on issues, but they should be of local, not national, interest."

The bid for a referendum was part of a national campaign organised by the Campaign Alliance for Referenda in Parishes.

Chairman Mark Croucher said the group had made similar calls for referenda in about 100 other parishes all over the country.

But yesterday Mr Lowrie said at least 60 other councils had abandoned parish polls after taking legal advice.