A parish council will not become a town council after it was found it would not comply with the law.

Heybridge Parish Council was due to change its name on April 1, however it will now not go ahead as planned.

The council’s clerk Mandy Hilton discovered the change, agreed back in June, did not comply with sections of the Local Government Act 1972.

Council chairman Simon Burwood said: “This is such a shame. We were looking forward to the future for Heybridge and wanted to use this opportunity to raise the profile of the area.

“We will now just have to try harder with our existing voice. We made a mistake, which we apologise for.

“We should have been better prepared and looked more thoroughly at the issues.

“It was only due to the diligence of our new clerk seeking clarification that this came to light. We owe her a debt of thanks”.

A planned celebration to mark the change, due to take place on April 1, has been cancelled.

The council’s annual meeting will be held at Plantation Hall on April 19 at 7pm.