Traditional prayers at the start of council meetings in Brighton are being abandoned in favour of poetry readings by children. 

Cllr Alex Phillips, who was appointed Mayor of Brighton and Hove in May, invited two students from Patcham High School to recite a poem when she opened a full council meeting for the first time on Thursday, The Brighton and Hove Independent reports.

Despite pressure from secularists, councils maintain the right to hold prayers before the start of meetings, but councillors are not obligated to attend. 

In the case of Brighton and Hove Council, it is up to the individual mayor to decide whether they want prayers to be said before formal full meetings of the council commence.

Cllr Phillips, who at 34 is the youngest person to be elected as Mayor of Brighton and Hove, wants the change to poetry readings to continue throughout her tenure.

She said that the poetry readings would give local young people an opportunity to showcase their talents "while simultaneously focusing councillors' minds on the decisions and interactions they are about to make".

"As a young mayor, I see the importance in opening the world of local politics up for our school children to experience," she said. 

She added: "It's important for our young people to understand local democracy but it's equally important for elected representatives to be reminded by young people that the decisions councillors are about to take will affect our young people the most."

It marks a change from the last mayor, Conservative councillor Dee Simson, who maintained prayers at the start of full council meetings and said the tradition "sets the tone for the meeting to follow". 

"Personally, as mayor of the city, I felt it important to follow the traditions that had been established over very many years by appointing a chaplain and offering prayers before meetings of full council," she said. 

Conservative councillor Tony Janio accused Cllr Phillips of choosing to replace the traditional prayers "on an atheist whim". 

"Learnt morals and traditions – we ignore these at our peril," he said. 

"I am not sure the mayor has ever attended prayers but she should not be allowed to prevent us from continuing with our traditions."