A CAMPAIGN to save an outdoor pool received a boost when a petition featuring more than 2,200 names was handed to council leaders.

Vale of White Horse District Council has been consulting the public on three alternatives for Abbey Meadows, Abingdon and only one of them involves keeping the pool.

Campaigner Naomi Richardson, of Abingdon, gathered the names backing the option to keep the pool and handed it in yesterday, the day the consultation ended.

Ms Richardson collected a total of 2,203 signatures through the activists’ website 38 Degrees, and handed it to Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire district councils’ chief executive David Buckle.

She said: “The starting point of any future process should include the outdoor pool as a key feature of redevelopment.

“Generations have enjoyed the pool and it should be there for future generations.

“It has been run down over many years and needs investment, but if properly developed it could be a wonderful asset for Abingdon and bring a lot of business to the town in the slow summer months.

“I believe we need a clear strategy for Abbey Meadows that will provide for the needs of Abingdon for the next 25 to 30 years to come.”

The other two scenarios for the pool would see it either close and a riverside cafe or restaurant open; or close and see the meadow transformed into “flexible green space”.