A town mayor says he will not resign after footage emerged of him snorting a white substance in a toilet cubicle.

A video circulating online shows Councillor Neil Rix, the mayor of Dover, telling an unidentified man: "Don't let anyone come... shut that door.

"Don't want anyone seeing Councillor Rix doing this."

The 67-second clip was posted to YouTube and police say they are now making enquiries "to establish the circumstances".

The video - which was apparently filmed six years ago but only recently came to light - shows Mr Rix saying: "You see what's there?"


The other man replies: "Yeah, you do the big one," and Mr Rix adds: "Are you sure?"

Mr Rix says he was drunk at the time the clip was filmed, and that he had been coerced.

He claims he was the victim of a blackmail plot, and insisted he would not step down as mayor.

He said: "I just feel I have let down my family but I will get over it. I have had a lot of support from friends and family, people that know me.

"I have never done it before. I was drunk. What happened, happened. I don't know what it was I was putting up my nose. It could have been sherbet for all I know."

Asked whether he would be quitting, he said: "No, I'm not at all. I'm not standing down."

A spokesman for Kent Police said: "We are aware of media coverage of a video circulating online reportedly relating to drug use.

"Officers will be making enquiries to establish the circumstances of the footage."

Mr Rix was made mayor of Dover in May. He was born and brought up in the town, where he founded a scaffolding and demolition firm.

In his first speech as mayor, he said his top priority was to encourage local employers to invest more in the town and increase involvement in community life.