Town's anger over flyer

The free flyer, produced by Wealden District Council, aims to plug yuletide activities in all of the area's major towns. These include Christmas lights switch-ons, family fun days, late night shopping and street entertainment.

However, members of Polegate Town Council are furious because the town is not referred to on either the front page of the flyer or on posters advertising the pamphlet. The error, they say, confirms their status as the forgotten town of Wealden.

Sarah Pascoe, economic development officer for Wealden District Council, said: 'It is unfortunate that a mistake occurred in that Polegate failed to be mentioned on the front of this leaflet. The omission was purely down to human error, for which we apologised immediately we realised the mistake.'

'Slap'

But Polegate Mayor Ivy Scarborough spoke of the anger at the council. 'It's another slap in the face by Wealden District Council and a reminder of what they think about Polegate.

'I am appalled. We spent a lot of time looking at what Polegate is going to do for Christmas and we made Wealden's printing deadline. For us not to be on the front of a brochure they have spent thousands of pounds on is outrageous. But this is typical of Wealden at the moment.'

The mayor revealed she had sent a letter of complaint to Wealden's chief executive. 'The letter will have left them in no doubt how we feel about it,' she said. 'It's very caustic.'

Town clerk Rod Tice added: 'Polegate is in it once you have picked it up. What is inside is fine. What isn't fine is that we're not on the front of it.'

For Wealden District Council Ms Pascoe went on: 'The flyer was produced at the cost of about 1,000 by the regeneration team. This represented very good value as we produced 20,000 leaflets and 500 posters for district-wide circulation.

'We have 42 parishes in the District, the largest District south of London, and with our limited resources try to help all the communities to develop economically.

'Polegate is acknowledged as one of our five major towns and like all communities, has been offered assistance from Wealden District Council in setting up regeneration partnerships and has been helped to identify where additional funding can be sourced.

'Polegate was given a large amount of space in a prime slot within the leaflet to promote its festivities. We wish the town every success with its Christmas activities.

'We have not yet received the letter from the town council and will respond as appropriate.'