RESIDENTS are stepping up the fight to save a playing field pavilion which faces the axe in a £100,000 budget cull.

Colchester Council wants to close the pavilion at the King George V Playing Field in Lexden to cut costs.

Its decision on the pavilion’s future followed the shrubgate U-turn, where council bosses abandoned plans to rip-up shrubs across the town in a bid to save on maintenance costs.

The latest move hopes to save £100,000 from the parks and recreation service budget.

Residents of Lexden, Prettygate and Stanway have united their efforts to either keep the facilities at the King George V Playing Field open, or upgrade it.

The public backlash has prompted council bosses to agree to delay the pavilion’s closure until the autumn, while residents and councillors discuss ways of keeping it open.

Lexden councillor Sonia Lewis said her dream was to replace the pavilion with more wide-ranging youth facilities, but added it was up to residents, with the support of councillors, to make something happen.

She said: “It’s the residents that will have to push it through.

“There were enough residents there who were very keen to go forward. We could improve that existing pavilion.

“We could raze it to the ground and have something really super, or we could walk away and let it drop.”

Eight football teams use the playing field and facilities at weekends.

Future meetings will look at potential sources of funding and will include representatives from Scout groups and football teams, including Brooklands Football Club.