A GOVERNOR at Burnley's Blessed Trinity College is hoping a deal can be reached to keep the Spirit of Sport centre open to the public.

Burnley Borough Council announced plans to cut their side of the funding for the centre, which is used by the school during the day, earlier this week as part of a raft of savings.

But Father Brian Kealey is hoping to find a way to keep the centre open to the public at evenings and weekends.

He said: “We are still hoping to come to some kind of agreement with the council over the centre.

“As for the long-term future, we will endeavour to work on that and make the best use possible of the centre.

“It is an extremely good facility. It’s very, very high quality and extremely popular with the people of the town.”

Father Kealey said the centre was “designed to be shared” when it was opened five years ago and that the council’s decision left a big burden on the school.

Gerard Vinton, the council's head of leisure and recreation services, said: “We will give Blessed Trinity every assistance we can in establishing a community use for the centre that the school could operate.”