AN overwhelming majority of residents have opposed plans to sell land to Southern Water for the proposed Portobello

treatment works.

Telscombe Town Council will now turn down the water company's offer of £115,000 for the one-acre plot, which is vital to the £60 million Portobello scheme.

The council is taking the stand although it may receive only £2,000 compensation if Southern Water wins a compulsory purchase order.

The company had also offered a further £95,000 to be used for community projects if it had been given permission.

A total of 3,700 of Telscombe's 5,000 voters returned voting forms in the postal ballot, with 99 per cent saying the council should reject what many saw as a "bribe."

Telscombe mayor David Neighbour said the overwhelming support for the council's stance meant it now had a clear mandate to fight the sewage works proposal at the public inquiry starting on Tuesday

The ballot was via a voting slip in the council's news leaflet.

Councillors had previously said they would be bound by the result if more than 50 per cent of electors voted, and Mr Neighbour said: "We are no longer tied to being neutral. It was a very big no. John Prescott please take note."

Defending the £1,000 vote exercise, Mr Neighbour said "It has given us a really clear indication. It has allowed all the town's people to have a say and it removes any doubt."

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