Campaigners calling for the most dominant building on Colchester's skyline to be bought for public use have presented the town's mayor with a petition.

The Save Jumbo for Colchester Campaign gave David Cannon the petition with more than 1,000 signatures urging the council to buy the prominent landmark and develop it so that the public would have access to it.

It also opposes any wholly private use of the building.

The campaigners have been gathering support from shoppers in the town centre each Saturday and the petition has also been left in pubs and restaurants around the foot of Jumbo.

So far 1,150 people have backed the campaign. Brian Light, a member of the campaign, said: "Anybody with any consciousness of the town at all has tremendous affection for it."

The Victorian water tower has stood empty for 12 years and proposals to turn it into private accommodation have been blocked by the council, but Mr Light added it was time the council accepted its hands-off approach had not worked.

He said: "It should be a positive policy. It should be part of the tourism development plan."

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