A SECOND Greater Manchester council has made a stand against the idea of a London-style mayor.

Voters in Bury strongly rejected plans to install the region's first elected mayor in the town after fewer than one in five of the electorate voted on the proposals in a referendum last week.

Campaigners fighting Greater Manchester's congestion charge plans forced the council to hold the poll after more than five per cent of Bury's electorate signed a petition calling for one. Pressure group Manchester Against Road Tolls (MART) is now said to be petitioning both Bolton and Tameside councils.

But councillors in Bolton have unanimously passed a motion declaring their opposition to changing the administration by installing an elected mayor.

The vote, delivered at a full meeting of the council, came after local government minister and Salford MP Hazel Blears said the government would make it easier for towns and cities to elect their own mayors.

Ms Blears published a White Paper which suggested the use of on-line mayoral petitions and a reduction in the number of people needed to trigger a referendum, from the current five per cent to as low as two per cent.

The motion in Bolton, tabled by Liberal Democrat leader Roger Hayes, said: "The council puts on record that it currently sees no advantage in the installation of an elected mayor in either Bolton or the whole of Greater Manchester."

Coun Hayes said not one councillor voted against the motion.

He said: "There was a free vote and it was rejected unanimously. I do not think we need the expense of an elected mayor or to destroy the current civic leadership."

His views were echoed by Bolton's Conservative leader, John Walsh.

He said: "I do not see any great demand for this in Bolton - and there wasn't in Bury. A new structure would cost money and be less democratic. It would be change for change sake at a time when we are trying to make democracy more open."

In the White Paper, published to get more people engaged in local politics, Ms Blears said she was `keen to see' more elected mayors.

She argued voters wanted to see the person they had voted for and be able to hold them to account.

She also said one way of encouraging people to vote would be by entering them in a prize draw. But opponents in Bury said an elected mayor would have held far too much power as a single political figure.

Nationally, there have been 35 referendums on the issue - 12 have been passed and 23 rejected.

What do you think? Have your say.