Members of Sheerness Town Team have presented an 844-name petition to Swale council calling for Sheerness to get its own town council.

Town Team vice-chairman Brian Spoor said: “We needed at least 750 names. During the past year we collected more than 1,500 signatures both on paper and online but only those living in Sheerness were allowed.”

The petition is the first stage in convincing Swale council to trigger a Community Governance Review. If successful, those living in Sheerness will be asked to vote on whether they want their own town council.

Retired businessman Mr Spoor said: “At the moment Sheerness has no voice. We are at the mercy of what Swale council or Kent County Council decide we need. But you can see the town is suffering.

“The Town Team are all volunteers who organise the flowers and Christmas lights but I passionately believe Sheerness needs its own elected representatives and full-time clerk to represent the town’s interests in the same way Queenborough, Minster, Leysdown and Warden do.”

He added: “One example is a deep clean of the High Street. The Town Team has been pressing Swale council to organise one for the past year.

“Finally we are to get one but Faversham and Sittingbourne get it first. Sheerness is once again at the end of the pecking order. Yet it was essential our seaside town was cleaned in time for the start of the summer holidays. Now we have missed that deadline. It would not have happened with own council in charge.”

The Town Team has also been campaigning to get Swale council to release the £100,000 earmarked for Sheerness as part of planning permission for the out-of-town shopping centre at Neats Court, Queenborough.

Meanwhile, Swale’s environment spokesman Cllr David Simmons said: “We want our town centres to look their best. We work hard to keep the bins empty and pick up litter but this can’t easily deal with that plague of our pavements - chewing gum – which needs specialist equipment.”

He added: “The results so far look good. But if we want to keep the streets looking good people need to dispose of their gum properly. If we catch someone dropping it, they face having to pay a fixed penalty of £80.”

The deep clean will take place at night.