COUNCIL chiefs have offered an olive branch to campaigners fighting plans to slash opening hours at a leisure centre.

The Stirling Centre in Rochester was to have been shut during the week under budget saving plans from Medway Council.

But a council scutiny meeting taking place on Tuesday will discuss proposals to keep the Stirling Centre open on Wednesdays, as well as evenings from 4pm and weekends.

Cllr Howard Doe, the council's Community Services supremo, said:

"The proposed revised opening hours will run for three months and if they prove popular and more people use the centre at these times they could become permanent.

"The centre's opening hours have had to be reviewed because the centre was operating at a considerable loss and only eight per cent of its income was the result of daytime use.

"By renting out the centre to schools and private functions during the daytime, four days a week, and if usage on Wednesdays increases, I hope to be able to keep the centre open on Wednesdays for public use permanently."