An inquiry could be sparked after plans to appoint two community directors to Dover Harbour Board stalled amid a political row.

Dover Town Council has objected to the Harbour Revision Order, which is needed to legally appoint Neil Wiggins and Samantha Parker to the board.

The tactic has prompted Dover MP Charlie Elphicke to accuse councillors of “playing games”, but the council claims the community directors, intended to act as the voice of the people, would be denied any real power on the board. It is calling for chairman George Jenkins to stand down.

The port of Dover said Mr Jenkins had always planned to stand down and the only thing in the way is the council objection.

Mr Elphicke says if the objection is not removed it could cause an inquiry by the regulators the Marine Management Organisation, or even spell the end of the plan for community directors.

He said: “The town council is rife with rumours that Labour councillors are putting pressure on the mayor to keep the objection in place.

“If an objection is not withdrawn then we will lose the community directors and port reform and go back to the bad old days when Dover Harbour would ignore the town.”

He said a council meeting should be called and each councillor should state their position.

He said: “Dover deserves better than these sort of games.”

Residents are invited to attend a public meeting to discuss whether they think the council should be objecting.

This is being held after mayor Chris Precious clarified the council’s position in last week’s Mercury.

Cllr Precious said: “We want to give the people a voice in this crucial decision and hopefully show that, whatever the outcome, Dover Town Council will not sell the town of Dover short. We haven’t lost our enthusiasm in fighting for the long term interests of Dovorians and will continue to do so.”

The meeting will be held at Maison Dieu House, High Street, on Thursday, March 3, at 6pm.

There will be a debate and a vote on the motion: “The People of the Town of Dover object/do not object to the current V2 draft of the Dover Harbour Revision (Constitution) Order 2016.”

It will also include a motion from Tory councillor Lesley Ann Burke who is calling for the town council to be abolished amidst her concerns about the council’s objection.

Cllr Burke who joined the authority in May last year, said taxpayers would save £20 a year and losing the council would have a minimal impact on residents.

She said: “What is the point of a town council that works against the people of Dover. They are in cloud cuckoo land.”

Mayor Chris Precious said: “As I have stated many times DTC is very keen to see the community directors in place so that Dover can continue to move forward together with a community driven port. This latest communications from our MP and others do, I’m afraid, misrepresent the course of events and tries to blame DTC for the delay in getting the community directors on the board.”

He said after liaising with the minister and receiving a new draft of the order he felt the wording was even more ambiguous.

Cllr Precious added that the council has been accused of stalling the order by MP Charlie Elphicke and others.

He said: “As the drive towards a “community friendly” port was started by a town meeting, I felt that, as we have only one last problem with the HRO, it was really up to the town to decide whether it is satisfied with the offered deal.

“At that meeting a vote will be taken and the electorate will make the decision which I will consider binding.

“The morning after I issued the summons for the town meeting two Conservative town councillors issued a demand for an extraordinary town council meeting which would limit the vote on this important matter to just town councillors.”

Cllr Precious said he is now faced with a decision. - “What do the people of Dover think? Do they want to make the decision?”