More than 1,500 people have signed a petition calling on Medway Council to reverse its decision to cut the opening hours of the Strand lido.

Swimmers launched a social media campaign after council bosses decided the outdoor pool in Gillingham would only be open at weekends until July 24 and will then open daily until Sunday, September 4, between 11am and 5pm.

The pool had previously been open from 8.30am to 7pm, seven days a week and residents are angry the changes were made without a public consultation.

Scroll down for video

The petition has now received 1,522 signatures.

Campaigners have also set up the Friends of the Strand Pool group which will hold its first meeting at the Sunlight Centre, Richmond Road, Gillingham, tonight.

Victoria Hill, 41, from Rainham, set up a Twitter account for the Friends, called @StrandLido.

She joined fellow campaigners at a meeting last week where it was decided to form a friends group.

Ms Hill said: “We are more formal and organised and hopefully that will help us with the council. We want to put forward some ideas to the council about how the lido can be better run so it is more financially viable.

“Our next step is to engage the council and have a conversation about how we can work together. The lido is not going to make any money if it is closed.”

Peter Wright, from the friends group, said: “There’s a huge groundswell of opinion that people actually love this facility and want to use it.

“I think the group is very realistic and we understand some of the difficulties the council have, but there must be compromises or ways of balancing the number of staff on duty with the number of users in the pool.”

To sign the petition, visit www.change.org