A COMMUNITY centre facing closure as part of council cutbacks has been granted a temporary reprieve.

People at Annfield Plain, near Stanley, have been campaigning to save their centre, which is one of several facilities across the county that is losing its Durham County Council funding.

The council has turned down proposals by a group of local people to run the centre themselves, citing low usage and the high cost of building repairs.

The group expected the building to close before Christmas but say they have now been told it can stay open for the time being while further talks are held over its future.

Hugh Embleton, secretary of the group, which says the facility is viable and much-needed by local people, said more people and groups were now using the centre.

“We are still under threat but we are reopening in January. The closure is still looming over our heads but we have so many clients coming through the door and I don’t think Durham County Council like the publicity they have been getting about it.

“But we still think their long-term aim is still to close the building and sell the land.

“We have another new group, Slimmers’ World , starting in January with 50 people now and possibly more after Christmas.

“ With that number of people coming to the centre I don’t know how the council can realistically say that they have to close the place.”

Mr Embleton said the group had been told the centre could stay open in the short term and that the building’s future “was still under negotiation”.

One possibility that has been suggested is that part of the empty Greencroft Comprehensive School could be turned into a community centre but that would not happen until August, leaving several months without a focal point for local groups.

The group fears that once groups left the venue they would not come back to a new one later on.

A spokesman for Durham County Council said: “There is no decision been made and we are meeting with them in January to discuss a way forward.

“We are going to see what we can be done in the future and how we can help them out. No final decision has been made.”