If it gets the go-ahead then election material displayed on lampposts could be a thing of the past. Councillors voted narrowly on proposals to ban the posters from all council property, including street furniture and buildings.

The panel of Argyll and Bute Council’s Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee were tied at 7-7 during last Thursday’s meeting when chair, councillor Ellen Morton used her deciding vote to propose the ban.

Councillor Morton said: “I’ve never had to use my casting vote before but I voted the way I had already voted, and 36 councillors will now decide on it.

“”My personal preference is that we would have the ban. There is sometimes accidental damaged caused, and with the recent CHORD works we have many brand new lampposts and street furniture.” The council is now facing a backlash with community council groups saying they have not been consulted on the decision and slamming the process as “unnecessary” and “anti-democratic”.

The council has also received hundreds of e-mails protesting against the proposals and a pressure group has been set-up to try and convince the council not to change existing policy.

A Facebook page, Object to A&B Poster Ban, opposing what they claim is the council’s rushed decision to implement a “blanket ban” has already gathered close to 600 likes.

Community councils were left with relatively little time to react to the news of the proposals as the decision is set to be made during a full council meeting tomorrow (Thursday).

Darrel Hendrie, convenor of Helensburgh Community Council, said: “I received an e-mail this morning but we don’t have another community council meeting until next week so we won’t be able to take a position on it until then. It seems like the decision is being rushed through without any real consultation.” A committee member of another community council, told the Advertiser: “My personal view is that their is a lack of democratic process here. I think that there should be a consultation process followed on this. It’s been pushed through with a great deal of haste.” While the convenor of another community council near Helensburgh said: “Surely the council should consult with people on something with such far reaching implications.” According to councillor Ellen Morton their views on the matter will be taken into consideration.

She added: “As councillors we need to take on board what people think and that’s what we will do on Thursday.

“I was taken aback by the response as I didn’t expect it to be a contentious issue. More than 20 councils already have this policy and the Scottish Government have this policy on trunk roads.

“If people think it’s undemocratic then I respect their views.

“It’s not something to die in a ditch over. There are more important things such as jobs and housing for the council to concentrate on.” Currently campaign posters are allowed as long as they meet certain criteria; they must not interfere with road visibility, must be sufficiently high so that they don’t impeded drivers or pedestrian and must include the local agent’s contact details in case they needed to be removed.