A MINI referendum is to be held in Colehill to resolve a row over replacing a roadside seat missing since the end of last year.

The bench in Pilford Heath Road was removed by the owners of the adjacent property, who claimed it was the catalyst for their catalogue of complaints over antisocial behaviour and litter.

But parish council plans to replace and relocate the seat to the nearby corner of Lapwing Road have split local opinion, with residents pressing for and protesting against the bench in equal numbers.

Now to break the deadlock Colehill Parish Council has circulated some 250 homeowners in that part of the village to canvass their views before making a final decision at their meeting on Tuesday.

Cllr KD Johnson, chairman of the parish council's finance and general purposes committee, said: "It is an interesting example of local democracy in progress."

"I had supposed that the only responses that we would get would be from the Nimbys and that the majority would be indifferent.

"In fact we have had calls from people who are incensed that the seat has been removed."

He said the seat had been used for 30 years to provide respite for pedestrians, particularly older folk, walking the uphill route along Pilford Heath Road between Middlehill Road and Lonnen Road.

The parish council has obtained a new seat and consent from county and district councils to put it in place.

"Hopefully we will have a good mandate for our seat.

"We do not want to deprive the majority of this facility because it may be abused by a minority," said Cllr Johnson.

But in their own letter to residents, John and Julie Bridle, who took down the original seat, which was sited within their curtilage, said the bench was seldom used during the day but attracted rubbish and rowdyism in the evenings And they warned: "Our concern is that a new seat in the area will result in further antisocial behaviour and potential unsafe conditions to us, the local residents."

Referendum responses have to be submitted to the parish council by letter, phone or email before Monday, April 2.