CAMPAIGNERS fighting to save an outdoor activity centre from the axe have handed over a 2,000-name petition demanding it be saved.
West Dunbartonshire Council decided earlier this year to shut Ardlui Outdoor Education Centre in June to save cash.
But local people want it to remain open and a Facebook page aimed at saving the centre from closure has received 2,200 likes.
The outdoor centre, which is based 25 miles outside the council area in Argyll and Bute, has been struggling financially since the local authority took over the lease in 2009. Last year alone it lost £274,000.
West Dunbartonshire is one of the few remaining councils in Scotland to operate an outdoor centre, with other authorities making use of schemes run by private companies and the voluntary sector.
Council bosses say Ardlui, which provides outdoor activities such as mountain biking, abseiling and canoeing, is not used by their primary pupils in year one to five and is rarely used by local secondary schools which opt for learning trips across the UK and abroad.
The lease of the centre is presently being marketed to public and private sector organisations in the hope it can still be available for local youngsters in the future.
A council spokesman said it was decided to close Ardlui as part of a series of cost-cutting measures needed to save £17 million as a result of cuts in funding by the Scottish Government and increased costs.
A council spokesman said: "The loss-making centre has been a drain on taxpayers money in West Dunbartonshire with losses since 2010 of more than £1.5m.
"That is one of the main reasons this saving option was supported by more than 62 per cent of the 3000 residents who took part in the recent budget consultation. That is why the council must stop running the centre."
However, campaigners are determined the centre should remain open. A spokeswoman said: "There is a lot of deprivation and poverty in this area and the children will not be able to afford to go to the centre if it is taken over by a private operator.
"We are hoping to get a meeting with the councillors and to persuade them to change their minds.
"We are not going to back down and are really angry about what is happening."
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