CAMPAIGNERS are stepping up efforts to save six councilrun leisure centres threatened with closure.

A day of action to save Sherburn leisure centre, one of six Durham County Councilowned facilities facing closure, was held yesterday, with villagers gathering signatures to take their petition closer to its 5,000-name target.

Lib Dem county councillor Carol Woods said: “It went very well. So many people in Sherburn have already signed, so we had people take the petition to other villages such as Pittington and Shadforth.

“I have every hope that we will get to 5,000.”

Meanwhile, Labour MP Roberta Blackman-Woods held talks in Durham Town Hall with council chiefs and staff and activists from four under-threat centres in her constituency – Sherburn, Coxhoe, Ushaw Moor and Pity Me – to explore whether they could be run privately or by community groups.

She said: “These centres are a vital resource for the communities they serve and I will be working as hard as I can to help them stay open.”

Lib Dem councillors Mark Wilkes and Amanda Hopgood have been working to secure the future of Abbey leisure centre, in Pity Me. Councillor Hopgood said that talks had been held with a non-profit group and a petition had been set up.

She said: “It is clear that a positive solution can be found, but this must be done within County Durham as it will be the council that makes the final decisions.”

Coun Wilkes said: “What is fundamental in this process is that it is non-political. Only one thing matters – saving and improving Abbey leisure centre.”

Pat Glass, the Labour MP for North-West Durham, said the Glenholme complex, in Crook, was an important facility and that losing it would be a huge blow to the community.

A campaign is also under way to save Ferryhill leisure centre.

Durham County Council, which has to save £125m over four years and is planning to axe 1,600 jobs, said closing the leisure centres could save £1.1m a year. Consultation about the closure will end on Thursday, May 26.

Councillors are expected to take final decisions this summer, and closures could follow in the autumn.