Leisure campaigners stage sit in (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Leisure campaigners stage sit in

9:00am Monday 2nd April 2007

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A sit-in protest took place at Calne's White Horse Leisure Centre in the final hours before its closure.

The facility is one of six run by a trust which has now gone into liquidation.

Solutions were found for the other five centres, but North Wiltshire District Council said there was not enough money to keep Calne's open to the public.

The sit-in, in the foyer and sports hall of the centre, began at 7.30pm on Saturday.

Ann James, who is registered disabled and swims four times a week at the Whitehorse centre, said: "It's desperate, the people of Calne and its outlying villages will have no public access to leisure facilties.

"What we're trying to do is let North Wiltshire District Council know that people in the area can't be treated as second class citizens.

"We all pay our council tax and it's the only centre in this area with disabled access."

The council has agreed to allow the 1,200 pupils of neighbouring John Bentley school to continue using the centre's "dryside facilities".

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