Elmbridge Council is one of the most gay-friendly councils in Surrey, according to an online poll by a leading gay charity.

Gay Surrey put up the poll as part of its mission for equality and will publish the results in full on the international day against homophobia.

Results to date put Elmbridge as the second most supportive to the gay community – putting it in line for an award next year from the charity.

Surrey County Council did not fare as well, with only 8 per cent of the vote – 4 per cent more of respondents said none of the councils deserved their vote.

Gay Surrey chairman Gino Meriano said: “The unsurprising result was Elmbridge Council, but I fully expect them to eventually be number one. They are so unbelievably open to equality and diversity.

“Elmbridge Council embraces every single aspect they could embrace and comes up with real tangible solutions to LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] issues.

“Things also don’t seem to take time with Elmbridge Council. They move fast once they have identified an issue and they are unbelievably proactive.

“They don’t look at the LGBT community as a minority group, but as a section of society that has certain issues that need to be resolved.”