Committees at Helston Town Council are set to grow in size after members voted to allow any councillor wishing to sit on a committee to join.

After town clerk Chris Dawson gave his opinion that the current system was unfair, with three councillors who stood for committees last year failing to make it onto any of them, while other council members sit on two committees and two members sit on all committees.

He presented three options to be put to a vote: Limiting the number of committees a member can sit on to two, with decisions to be made in a private meeting; setting a minimum number of committee members but no maximum, and allowing members to sit on a committee if they so wish; or appointing a committee selection panel to select the committees.

Councillor Martine Knight objected to the lack of a status quo option, and said: "I think out current system is the most transparent and democratic system available.

"The fact that some members didn't get voted onto a committee is just a result of the process."

She also objected to the use of the term "disenfranchisement" to describe town councillors not getting a committee position when they failed to secure enough votes, as it appeared the council "is saying democracy is okay when it suits us."

She objected to the first option as making decisions in private meetings seemed a "return to the past when council was a members club," but said she was "tickled" by the idea of having a committee to decide on committees.

Councillor Ronnie Williams said at one point the town council was "brought to it's knees" while using a system similar to the current one.

He said: "It was known as the Blue Anchor committee, committees were decided in a public house and if you weren't friends, you weren't in."

Councillor Jonathan Radford-Gaby said he agreed with Councillor Knight over the first option, but said the current system was "not a good system" and could prevent people with relevant expertise from getting onto committees.

He supported option two, and asked: "Why should we not have more than six members on a committee?"

Councillor Mark Upton said he thought the council had "worked rather well" over the last two to three years and there was no need to change the status quo. In answer to a question he was told that even if eight members at a committee - enough to carry a motion at full council - supported a motion, it would still need to be voted on at a council meeting.

Councillors voted to accept the second option, of larger committees.