SUDELLSIDE Community Centre will be saved from closure.

The facility, in Sudellside Street, Darwen, faced an uncertain future after the coalition formerly in charge of Blackburn with Darwen Council announced in June it would lose funding as part of £4million cuts in the borough.

But since taking over last week, new Labour council leader Coun Kate Hollern has vowed that support will now be reinstated, although in the longer-term council bosses want the community to be more involved.

Ray Heeks runs a martial arts class at the centre, teaching 111 pupils, aged between four and 68.

He has been part of an action group investigating the feasibility of community volunteers keeping the facility open, and says now the council 'needs to listen' to their findings.

He said: “If the council follow through with this, then I’ll be very happy.

“But having looked into how the centre has been run in the past, it is clear things need to be streamlined.

“Things like insurance and gas and electricity supplies need to be shopped around for to get the best price, and this hasn’t been done.

“The people of this borough were the ones who caused the coalition to lose power, so now Labour have to listen to what we have to say.

“The community group still needs to be engaged in the future of the centre.”

Sudell councillor Roy Davies said: “This is good news for people who use the facility, but the money to pay for it has to come from somewhere.

“There have to be cuts elsewhere, and and I can see us going back to fortnightly bin collections.”

Coun Damian Talbot, executive member for culture and leisure, said he wanted to find a 'viable and sustainable future for community centres'.

He said: "The council is facing budget pressures but community representatives have shown they have a desire and an appetite to work with us to help our community centres play a more active role in our neighbourhoods and improve the life of our citizens.”