Stoke-on-Trent City Council has rejected a referendum on the way the city is run, despite a campaign by the Sentinel for the Right to Choose.

During a 90-minute debate 60 councillors were given the chance to vote on whether or not to ask the city’s population if they wanted a directly-elected Mayor – their first vote since separate petitions were launched by the Sentinel and the Mayor 4 Stoke group.

Both are trying to gather enough signatures to force a referendum in the city, and so far have collected around 6,000 of the 9,167 signatures needed.

The Sentinel also conducted its own opinion poll of a random sample of 500 adults in Stoke-on-Trent – 97.7 per cent of which believed there should be a city-wide referendum on the issue.

But despite this, councillors rejected two motions, each calling for a binding referendum on the question of whether the city should be run by a directly elected mayor.

One motion calls for the mayor to work hand in glove with a city manager, while the other would see the mayor work with a cabinet.

During the meeting Labour councillor John Beech said the “vast majority” of people had not responded to the Sentinel’s petition and the move was being led by a small minority group with the Sentinel jumping on the bandwagon.

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