Helston's mayor has defended his request for the council to spend up to £5,000 on redecorating the Mayor's Parlour against claims it would "override" democratic process.

In a debate at the town council last Thursday, mayor Mike Thomas had requested that the parlour be redecorated "as a priority" with a maximum budget of £5,000, as part of a programme of work including re-plastering a hole that had appeared in the ceiling.

In putting the request to councillors, he said: "This is not about Mike's room, It's not my room, it's the mayor's room, and I would like the next mayor to have a room that's fit for a mayor of this town."

He called the current state of the ceiling "embarrassing," and said it had been so since he was a member of the council, and that he had never received anyone there because of the state it was in.

Councillor Martine Knight told the mayor that she was concerned about the way he had gone about requesting that the repairs be carried out, as it fell out of the order in which work on the Guildhall was expected to go and which would be most cost effective for the town.

She said: "In May members agreed to step outside the plan of works to the degree of having the parlour repaired but not redecorated.

"Now you bring before us that you want to override a previous democratic decision.

"I'm very concerned about that."

She said rearranging the plan of work "means more costs overall," and added: "This is the part of the Guildhall Helstonians see the least."

Councillor Thomas told Councillor Knight that he "did not like" her accusations he would attempt to override any process, and that the proposal was simply to give the Guildhall Working Party a budget to work with.

Councillor Jonathan Radford-Gaby, a former mayor, told councillors the ceiling had been a problem three and a half years ago, and said "we have procrastinated for long enough."

He added that the work should not cost £5,000, but that such a sum would allow the working party to continue without needing to come back to ask for more.

Councillor Mark Upton said he didn't recall any particular order being set for the work to be done. He also said work on the Epworth Hall had been repeatedly held up because everything had been budgeted in small increments.

A proposal to delegate authority to the Guildhall Working Party was passed by the council.