OSWESTRY councillors have rejected a chance to revisit their choice of deputy mayor – provoking outrage from the public.

Councillor Duncan Kerr offered at an extraordinary Oswestry Town Council meeting on Wednesday to answer any concerns that led members not to select him, despite being next on the seniority list.

Cllr Kerr asked members to revoke the decision to elect Cllr Mark Jones as deputy to avoid a predetermined decision.

With a recorded vote was in deadlock at nine votes each, the casting vote went to Mayor of Oswestry Cllr Sandy Best, who initially voted against the proposal, and then abstained from the casting vote.

Cllr Kerr said: "You've predetermined the issue, so there's no point putting any concerns to me because you've decided as a council that I'm not a fit and proper person for this role, so it would be wasting everybody's time to proceed further.”

He said that there would likely have to be a third meeting on the issue, or it would have to be discussed at the mayor-making ceremony in May.

"I passionately want to avoid that do so I'm likely to be calling another meeting, because clearly you do need to put your concerns to me and I'm more than happy to answer them, but I can't do that unless you revoke the decision that I'm not suitable," he said.

"That's like the judgement coming and the trial coming afterwards."

There was an angry reaction from several members of the public, with shouts of "outrageous" and "disgraceful" ringing round the council chamber.

At a meeting in January Cllr Peter Cherrington said he believed Cllr Kerr’s “passions” could cause a “conflict of interest” in the council, and proposed Cllr Jones as the deputy mayor elect.

Councillors voted in favour of suspending the standing orders which mean Cllr Kerr would take on the role, by a margin of 10-6 in favour.

Cllr Kerr was working with underprivileged children in Uganda at the time and called to the latest meeting because he said he did not have a chance to respond to councillors' concerns.

He told the latest meeting that the council had a "proud tradition" of appointing the mayor and deputy by seniority.

Cllr Kerr added that to assume these roles, candidates had to win a mandate from the public by by follow the code of conduct.

He said: "In my case I was also elected last year to be deputy chair of the Finance and General Purposes Committee, so it is particularly difficult to understand why I am not considered fit for the role of deputy mayor.

"There should be no other process to assess an individual's suitability. To do so starts a very dangerous slope, particularly if it is not open and transparent – that is where arises.

"When you start to make decisions based on rumours, innuendos and unspoken accusations, you're giving succour to those who want to discriminate."

He offered the chance for councillors to have a "second thought" and ask about any concerns they had about him.

Cllr Kerr added that the original decision made it a "very dangerous process" for people from less privileged backgrounds or who might have done things they were ashamed of in the past, but who might now be "some of the best people" for office.

"That doesn't apply to me; I've done nothing I'm ashamed of, you can ask me any questions about me whatsoever," he said.

A vote to suspended the standing order which prevented the original decision being revisited for four months was revoked by a a margin of nine votes to eight.

Cllr Mike Coppock supported Cllr Kerr's call for a fair hearing and spoke at the meeting.

He said: "This issue has caused an enormous amount of public condemnation of the council.

"This is what concerns me most about this. It could be argued that it has brought the council into disrepute. I've not come across a single comment from a member of the public who supports the council's action in this.

"We aren't here to represent ourselves or political parties. We represent those who elected us, and what we do on the council not only reflects on us, but on them.

"This council, in most cases, gets on well and works well together, achieving many very positive things, of which we should be proud, but this issue has been extremely divisive."