FARNHAM town councillors did "the right thing" - voting against a proposal to give themselves cash benefits.

The councillors were asked for their views on whether they should be paid basic allowances and expenses as part of a national consultation involving parish and town councils.

Organised by the National Association of Local Councils (NALC), the consultation gave local councils the opportunity to ask for basic allowances and for expenses to cover journeys within the parish or town boundary and costs such as postage or telephone bills.

Currently, town councillors can claim expenses for mileage outside of Farnham's boundaries if they are travelling on council business.

The town mayor, Carole Cockburn, receives an allowance of £4,500 which is kept in the town council's accounts and can be claimed to cover expenses involved in community events and receptions.

The mayor's allowance is also used to pay for the civic event at the end of a term of office to which representatives from the community and local organisations are invited.

At last week's meeting of the town council's finance and general purposes committee, the NALC proposals were discussed.

Mrs Cockburn told the committee: "I believe that a councillor's role should be voluntary, but I would hate to think that people are put off from standing for election for fear they would be out of pocket."

These concerns were echoed by Joan Harris, who said: "We should aim to have a broad section of the community represented on the council. If people are unable to stand because they can't meet the costs of childcare to cover evening meetings, it would be very unfortunate."

Meanwhile town and borough councillor Captain Peter Burden stated that he believed the public may be uneasy at the thought of public money being put towards councillors' expenses.

Captain Burden said: "I believe that as a council we should do the right thing and state that we wish to keep the system as it is - with an allowance for the mayor and not for all councillors."

After the meeting, Farnham's town clerk Pat Evans commented: "The councillors here are very good with expenses. They only claim travel expenses if they have to go on courses a long way from the town."