A petition to save the Julie Rose Stadium has been received by the chairman of the Julie Rose Stadium Trust (JRST).

Cllr Peter Davison (Ash Ind) plans to deliver the 700 name petition to the next Ashford Borough Council meeting, which is in April.

Stadium staff became at risk of redundancy and the opening hours were put under threat when Ashford Borough Council said it could not give the trust the funding required to pay for the running of the stadium during the next financial year - which starts in less than four weeks.

Talks are continuing and Cllr Davison is hopeful that opening hours and activities will not be cut.

Cllr Davison said: “If the borough council confirms their latest offer of funding and we can overcome some obstacles, the stadium will continue with the same services and hours.

“The cuts will be made in running costs. Having less staff will not be ideal but at least we can continue with the activities and hours.”

He hopes the agreement will be finalised within the next week or fortnight and said: “I’m aware of the distress to staff and users of the stadium and want to end the uncertainty as soon as possible.”

A deal should been done by the time the council receives the petition but Cllr Davison is hopeful that it will demonstrate the public support for the stadium and could help the trust's case for council funding in the future

In addition to the petition, 677 signed up to a group on social networking website Facebook called ‘Save the Julie Rose Stadium’.