AN offer to pay for half the cost of Christchurch’s referendum has been rejected by the council.

Resident, Alistair Somerville Ford had approached Christchurch council and volunteered to pay £30,000 towards the cost of the poll.

Members of the council voted to conduct a referendum over whether to merge with Bournemouth and Poole at an extraordinary meeting of the council last month.

The cash offer was revealed at the end of the meeting, but chief executive David McIntosh subsequently demanded to know whether councillors knew of this in advance and if it had influenced their vote.

He also said it could render their vote void.

Now, the council has said the offer from Mr Somerville Ford has been officially rejected.

Mr McIntosh said: “Members agreed to conduct a referendum to seek residents’ views on local government reorganisation at their full council meeting on March 21.

“They resolved that the poll should comply with good practice meaning it must be balanced and fair to avoid any accusation of bias.

“Having sought legal advice we believe that accepting the offer of £30,000 towards the costs of the referendum from an individual would not be in line with good practice as it could be seen to influence the result.

“We must ensure this poll is conducted in an unbiased way and have been advised that accepting any money could undermine the validity of the whole referendum, something that would not be in the best interests of our residents.”

The wording of the referendum will be discussed at a meeting of the full council on Tuesday, April 18.

Mr Somerville Ford said he was disappointed by the decision, adding: “The public once again will be short-changed.”

Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Sajid Javid is still to make a decision on the proposed merger of Dorset councils into two unitary authorities.

Six councils backed the scheme, but Christchurch, East Dorset and Purbeck were opposed.