As the nation heads to the polls today, Great Dunmow is one town in Britain which feels left out. It is so sad not to be a town that counts ... its votes.

Dunmow, is the town with no name ... on the ballot papers. There will be no poll for town councillors in Dunmow and those councillors whose seats really are the safest in Britain just wish they were just a little bit marginal.

They would relish a fight for them – the knowledge that they had clung on to them after a worthy battle. They might have enjoyed the drama and tension of a count into the early hours in a tense village hall, a night with little sleep, waking to find you had made bitter rivals, whose jealousies and feuds would carry on like an ancient Greek myth down the generations.

But sadly, Dunmow Town Council, like small parishes across the country is a contented place where they can’t have an election because there are too few candidates to fill the town council seats. There are 16 places and with three councillors resigning this year, there are only 13 contestants to fill them.

Said the Mayor of Dunmow, Councillor Jonathan Cadwallader: “We are very disappointed that there are not enough of us to have an election. It would have made us more democratic. We would have liked to have had a contest. We are called elected members and it’s very sad that we are in office unopposed.”

Dunmow Town Council likes to think of itself as non-political. “We are all neutral,” said Councillor Cadwallader. “We all stand as independents and that’s a good thing. We don’t waste time scoring points off each other. We have all got Dunmow at heart and we work as a team and we would dearly love things to stay that way.”

He added: “We have taken out an advertisement in the Broadcast and we’ve prepared leaflets. We are asking people to come forward. We would like some young blood and more women, there are only three on the council now, which is a bit of a shame.”

For the results of the parliamentary and district election results, see www.dunmow-broadcast.co.uk tomorrow (Friday).

INFORMATION: Anyone interested in standing for Great Dunmow Town Council should contact the Town Clerk, Caroline Fuller, Foakes House, 47 Stortford Road, Great Dunmow or email townclerk@greatdunmow-tc.gov.uk by Monday, May 11. They will be co-opted at the Annual Council Meeting on May 21.