Bluey cartoon disrupts election count plans

Bluey's residence at the Brighton Centre has proved a nightmare for the city council

Children's cartoon character Bluey has caused headaches for a council trying to arrange a general election count in East Sussex.

Brighton & Hove City Council had hoped to book the Brighton Centre from 3 to 5 July, but officials were left scratching their heads after learning the venue was already booked for Bluey's Big Play.

The city's election count will instead be held 5 miles (8km) away at Portslade Sports Centre, meaning customers will be unable to use the facility during the count period.

The sports centre will be closed to customers from 3 to 5 July with its members being given access to other gyms and studios across the city during the closure.

There will be six performances of Bluey's Big Play at the Brighton Centre, pictured

The council is responsible for organising general election counts and usually holds them at the Brighton Centre.

It had tried to book the venue from 3 to 5 July, to set up the counting tables and host the count itself after people go to the polls on 4 July, but was unable to do so.

Instead, the Brighton Centre will host Bluey's Big Play - a live theatre adaptation of the hit children’s television show Bluey – for six shows from 5 to 7 July.

A spokesperson for the council said: “The calling of the snap election by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meant we had to find a suitable venue in a short space of time.

“We looked at other venues in the city, but none are as suitable as the sports centre which will be able to hold 500 people and 150 count tables, has good accessibility, large areas for declaring the winners and accommodating the media.

“[We know] the closure of the sports centre will cause inconvenience to some of our residents and customers, but we hope everyone can understand the reasons.”