ONE perk to being a Wiltshire councillor revealed itself this week as three members settled down to enjoy a romantic comedy, all in the name of democracy.

A request was sent in to the licencing committee after Bradford on Avon film society put in a plea to show Italian film Marcello Marcello in coming months.

However the film while, rated a PG in Italy, did not have a classification in the UK, and so the responsibility fell on the local authority to rate the showing.

Three councillors, Allison Bucknell, Peter Evans and Stewart Palmen all found themselves enjoying the film this week and came up with their own classification – a PG.

A spokesman from the licensing committee said: “ Having viewed the film 'Marcello, Marcello', the Sub Committee unanimously agreed that the content should be subject to a PG parental guidance classification. The film, which was a romantic comedy, contained only mild violence justified by its context and there was a brief reference to nudity with no sexual context.

“There was no glamorisation of weapons such as guns, nor any focus on anti-social behaviour.”

This is the first time in the council’s history that responsibility fell on them to classify a film.

If a film has a certificate that a person thinks is incorrect, Wiltshire Council also has the power to reclassify it within the county boarder.

Linda Holland, licensing manger said: “Say we have a film rated a 15 that somebody in Wiltshire feels was incorrectly rated, three member of the council can ask to view it and decide to rate it an 18 in Wiltshire. It has never happened before in the county but it has on occasions happened elsewhere if someone has challenged a film people may find tasteless.”