LABOUR-led Thurrock Council has been accused of "killing democracy" after councillors were blocked from questioning a disputed vote on whether to postpone this May's local elections.

The controversy began earlier this month when the council's cabinet voted on January 13 to request a one year delay to elections so the authority could focus on Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), which will see 15 Essex councils reduced to up to five unitary authorities.

It is the second year the elections have been cancelled.

Although cabinet approved the move, an extraordinary full council meeting was held on January 14 so all 49 councillors could debate the issue.

A motion from Reform Group leader, Alex Anderson, opposing the postponement was recorded as failing by 20 votes to 19. However, several opposition councillors insist the correct count was 20–20, meaning Mayor Sue Shinnick should have exercised a casting vote.

At Wednesday's full council meeting, members expected to challenge the minutes of the January 14 meeting — only to discover they were absent from the agenda, despite already being published online.

Independent councillor Neil Speight, representing Stanford-le-Hope West, confronted the mayor and senior officers. "We've not been given the opportunity to validate what happened," he said. "The CEO offered to meet group leaders to explain what happened, then withdrew. We are left in the dark."

Mayor Shinnick insisted the minutes were "not ready", a claim backed by monitoring officer Daniel Fenwick. When Mr Speight continued pressing the issue, the mayor repeatedly ordered him to sit down and said he would be removed from the chamber if he did not comply. As public applause broke out, Mr Speight responded: "Democracy is dead."

Speaking after the meeting, he said: "The actual votes were 20–20 but we've had no explanation why it was recorded incorrectly. The mayor didn't ask for abstentions, which would have flagged the miscount. I think she didn't want the profile of using a casting vote, so the meeting was shut down prematurely."

Mr Speight also questioned why the minutes were withheld. "They claimed they weren't ready, even though they had already been published."

A council spokesperson said the minutes could not be added because agendas must be published five working days in advance. They will be presented for approval at the next full council meeting on 25 February."

+This story includes comment and detail about Neil Speight, editor of Thurrock News, who is also a councillor. For clarity this article has not included any editorial imput from him, it was written by the BBC's Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) and has already appeared on other news platforms not connected with Nub News.