STRATTON residents fear that the parish''s "jewel in the crown" could be under threat.

The concerns come after Stratton St Margaret Parish Council, who own and manage the Grange Leisure Centre, released a statement suggesting big changes to how the centre operates were on the way.

The statement said: "The council... resolved to seek to procure a partner, such as a social enterprise, to invest in and manage the Grange Leisure on its behalf and hopes to commence a new contract from April 2019.

"Currently, whilst Grange Leisure delivers services for the local community, this is resulting in an increasing financial subsidy from the parish council.

"Parish councillors agreed that the council should seek to relocate the council offices currently at Grange Leisure to enable use of the offices for activity space.

"The council also agreed to seek to establish alternative uses for the Grange Bar and discuss with potential partners the alternative uses."

These alternative uses are what worry locals.

Liz Stoker has lived in the area for over 25 years.

She said: "I'm very disappointed in the parish council, it would be a real shame for this to happen.

"What got my alarm bells ringing was when I noticed that you can't book a wedding for next year, when the centre has been a wedding venue for years.

"So many events and functions are held there, but suddenly the parish need to keep increasing the subsidy because it's not breaking even?

"What has the council been doing differently to lead to this problem?

"Saying 'alternative uses' doesn't necessarily mean the bar will close, but what other alternative uses are there for a bar?

"I go to the bar twice a week, it's a nice, safe, family-friendly place."

"If we don't fight this before the decision's made, it will be too late to do anything about it.

Glenn Carter plans to attend the next full council meeting on Tuesday at 7pm to voice his views with other residents.

He said: "It's always been vibrant, it's the jewel in the crown of Stratton, people of all ages use it, it's part of all the big community events and it's important to the social lives of many elderly people.

"However, it's gone downhill and become a financial concern ever since the centre manager was made redundant and the council fully took over a few years ago.

"Without the bar, no-one will host functions or events there, we're being let down."

Coun Ann Brooker, vice chairman of SSM Parish Council, said: "At the moment, we are looking at alternative uses but no decision has been made.

"What these uses could be depend on the result of a feasibility assessment, which has been carried out and a review of it will presented to the council at some point in the future."

In the statement, pairsh council chairman Coun Leach said: "This is a positive move for the future of Grange Leisure and the Council will be very careful in its choice of partner to ensure that they can deliver investment opportunities for the Leisure Centre and retain the services that will benefit the community."