THE mayor’s number plate has been given a six-month stay of execution, the Daily Echo can reveal.

Last year it was announced the iconic TR 1 number plate would be stripped from the mayor’s Mercedes and put up for sale in Southampton City Council’s sweeping budget cuts.

The move surprised former mayors eager to retain the city’s lasting heritage.

Now a team fronted by Mayor of Southampton Cllr Derek Burke have been given until December to find a way of saving the cash to save TR 1 from the axe.

Cllr Simon Letts, the council’s Cabinet member for resources, agreed to hold off the sale, which could be worth around £120,000 in capital terms, for alternative savings to be found within the mayor’s budget.

The money raised from selling the plate would go towards existing council debt.

Cllr Letts added the mayor has been asked to find a saving of £9,000. The cash would go towards the annual payment on the equivalent £120,000-worth of debt if the number plate is not sold.

Cllr Letts said: “We had agreed to sell it within the year 2013/14.

“Cllr Burke’s initial thoughts were to find a sponsor to save TR 1.

“He was confident he could save the money and was having conversations with car dealerships in the city. We came up with the idea to maintain the heritage of the city but we are still making budget savings.”

Cllr Burke told the Daily Echo he is in talks with several firms interested in sponsoring the mayor’s car.

He said: “Obviously it is a very strong part of our heritage.

“In December we are looking at it again – that’s when the lease runs out.

“It’s a new way of looking at things. We have never looked at sponsorship before.

“The registration plate has been on there since the 1930s when they first started registrations.

“It’s a distinct number plate and everyone knows it. When you go out, everyone’s head turns and they know what it is – it’s iconic.”

The Daily Echo reported last year how Registration Transfer, the largest dealer in Britain, put a price tag of £150,000 on the TS1 plate for Dundee Lord Provost John Letford’s official Volkswagen Phaeton.

Southampton’s previous mayor Carol Cunio said: “It won’t be sold. It’s something a small group of mayors are working on, to save it.

“This is a small thing compared to the big problems but it’s tradition.”