A BATTLE for the future of a healthy living service at a popular Burnley community centre has been taken to County Hall.

Hundreds of residents have signed a protest petition opposing the removal of the health provisions at The Chai Centre as part of Lancashire County Council’s cuts programme.

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Burnley MP Julie Cooper, accompanied by County Cllr Dr Misfar Hassan and Cllr Saeed Chaudhary presented the petition to County Cllr Azha Ali, the authority’s executive member for health and wellbeing.

First opened in 2004, the centre, in Hurtley Street, boasts a cafe, gym and sauna and its possible loss, as part of £220,000 worth of cuts, has triggered a number of public meetings among concerned users.

Mrs Cooper said: “The fight goes on. I am determined to leave no stone unturned when it comes to the development of a contingency plan to save the Healthy Living centre at Chai.

“The residents of Daneshouse and Stoneyholme have made it clear to me that, in this deprived area of our town, these services are quite literally a lifeline to many.

“With rates of depression and diabetes well above the average in this community, it makes no sense at all losing services which help to prevent or manage these debilitating conditions.”

Ward councillor Shah Hussain told the Lancashire Telegraph there was a groundswell of support for protecting services at The Chai.

“I’m confident, given the number of people who have been coming forward so far, that we can save services at the centre,” he said.

The MP says she has staged discussions with ‘several interested parties’ over the venue and was ‘cautiously optimistic’ these may lead to a long-term solution being secured for the venture.

Cllr Ali has blamed the cutback, which has been made by axing a contract with Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, on the severe financial pressures placed on the county council by the government.

The current contact will expire at the end of March 2016 and will not be renewed, it has been confirmed. Other services at the centre for parents and children will be unaffected.