Hundreds of people have signed a petition calling for councillors to reconsider extending race times at the Kent Speedway in Sittingbourne.

Swale council’s planning committee last month rejected a proposal for an extra hour to be added to the existing 8.30pm curfew in place during Monday night meetings at the Central Park stadium.

But 454 people have since signed an online petition – just 46 short of the number required to force the issue to be considered by an overview and scrutiny committee meeting.

A total of 1,500 signatures are required to trigger a debate at a Swale council meeting.

Kent Speedway club chairman Roger Cearns, who has confirmed he will appeal the council’s decision, said: “The petition is good, but there was a petition before with three or four hundred signatures and that was just glossed over.

“The town is on the up - the regeneration of Sittingbourne is moving along and this [Speedway] is part of it.

“It’s to everyone’s advantage that the stadium is made use of.”

Mr Cearns previously said extending race times would encourage more fans to visit the area and attract top Speedway stars to the venue.

However, many residents living near the stadium oppose plans to extend evening race meetings

At a previous planning meeting, Hilary Apps, who lives nearby on Meeres Court Lane, told councillors she and her neighbours were forced to keep their windows closed because of the noise, and often found themselves unable to use their gardens during the summer months.

A survey carried out by the Murston Labour (party) Action Team last month revealed that out of 128 nearby houses, 94 households did not support extended hours.