BUSINESS leaders have vowed to find other ways to improve the city centre after firms voted against paying an extra 1.2 per cent on their rates to do it.

Plans for a Business Improvement District (BID) in Southampton would have seen 480 firms paying for extra services such as private security guards patrolling city centre streets.

BID organisers were confident businesses would back the scheme but 58 per cent voted against it in a referendum.

And just one third of the businesses in the proposed improvement district, running from Bedford Place to the full length of the High Street, took part in the ballot – 69 in favour and 96 against.

Andy Collyer, chairman of the BID steering group and manager of WestQuay shopping centre, blamed the recession for the result and poor turnout.

“There were a number of businesses supportive of the idea but the timing at the moment just was not right for them. That message has been coming through strongly from smaller businesses,” he said.

Mr Collyer claimed the BID was only one way to improve the “visitor experience” in Southampton.

“We need to go away and assess the other opportunities,” he said, although he declined to spell them out.

He added that work on the BID had “forged strong relationships within the business community which are the foundation to take forward other initiatives”.

The BID could have paid for services such as graffiti removal, street “deep cleaning” and a machine to strip chewing gum from the city’s pavements.

Graham Penny, chairman of the Bedford Traders Association, said he was delighted with the result as the BID would have penalised small businesses who would have been caught paying the minimum £300 – as much as three per cent on their rates. He said: “It was all about big business and Above Bar. Bedford Place will do a better job of looking after ourselves.

“If the city centre needs more publicity and smartening up it’s the job of the council.”

And he warned: “They are bound to try to come back for another crack at it.”

Rashmi Chande from the East Street Traders’ Association said he backed the idea in principle but wanted “cast iron” assurances that the BID money would have been spent based on the need and priority of different areas.

He said the apathy showed the BID “was not sold in the right way”.

Tory Cabinet member for economic development councillor Royston Smith, who had hoped for a yes vote, said he was “disappointed” but “not surprised” at the result, as the voting took place in the midst of the recession. He insisted the city remained one of the leading shopping destinations in the south east.

He said the new city centre management company, made up of businesses, would provide a clear direction for the future.

● BIDs have been hailed a success in other areas across the UK, such as Brighton, Reading and Kingston on Thames. Nationally 73 of BIDs have been put to referendum with 63 accepted, including Winchester and Segensworth in Hampshire.