SOUTHAMPTON is today without an elected leader after councillors failed to agree on who should head the city council.

At one point in yesterday's marathon council meeting it was even suggested the leader be chosen by the toss of a coin. However, the proposal - from the Tory group - was rejected and after five hours the meeting was adjourned for a week for further behind-doors discussions.

Council Chief Executive Brad Roynon now holds the reigns of power until a new leader is elected.

Amid scenes of tense negotiations at the Civic Centre last night, leaders of the Labour, Tory and Liberal Democrat Groups reached an impasse in their search for a solution to the power vacuum which has gripped the city.

Newly-elected Mayor, Cllr John Slade was forced to adjourn the meeting after Labour leader Councillor June Bridle and Liberal Democrat leader Councillor Adrian Vinson told members that they needed more time to negotiate a compromise deal.

The deadlock now means that city chief executive, Brad Roynon is effectively in charge of city affairs for the next seven days.

He will take any key decisions that arise until next Wednesday when the three political groups will meet again to see if they can come up with a working compromise to run Southampton.

The Liberal Democrat and Labour groups edged closest to thrashing out a deal of who should rule after May 4's historic election result which saw all three political parties win 16 seats each in the 48 member council chamber.

They had to admit defeat at 7.30pm - five and a half hours after the meeting began - to give themselves more time to come up with a workable compromise over who is in charge of the city's £240m budget this year.

The Daily Echo understands that during the secret negotiations between leaders of the Tory and Lib Dem groups, the Conservatives had offered to decide the leadership over the toss of a coin.

The "winner" would have taken control of the city with the "loser" supporting the ruling group for the year.

However, city insiders say that the Lib Dems rejected the deal.

In a separate move, it is understood that the Labour and Lib Dem groups were also wrestling with a compromise that would have seen Labour take control with the Lib Dems netting the chairs of scrutiny committees.

However, that deal also foundered leaving civic leaders back where they started.

Conservative group leader Councillor Alec Samuels told members that the Conservative group was not taking further part in the discussions and had "retained its dignity" during the negotiations

He said: "Nobody would think that the election was held tem days ago.

"What must the public think? These matters have been taken to the wire. What must the public think of us? They must be frustrated and exasperated as well they might be."

Liberal Democrat leader Councillor Adrian Vinson added: "Everybody knows that this is a unique and difficult situation. New proposals have come forward today. In an ideal world, they would have come forward ten days ago.

"We have made some significant progress to the point where we believe these proposals have achieved the status of something that could be delivered in a way that would be based on real policy issues and made to stick."

Speaking after the meeting Cllr Bridle was keeping tight-lipped about the exact nature of the fresh deal being proposed between the Lib Dem and Labour groups.

She said: "There is a lot to be done. We are trying to take this seriously with a great deal of responsibility because outside of here, the citizens of Southampton want us to get on and do the job responsibly."