A campaign to halt cuts in the opening hours of Didcot's Willowbrook Leisure Centre stepped up a gear this week, as two petitions with more than 800 signatures were presented to town councillors.

A dozen people wearing 'Save Our Willowbrook' T-shirts handed over the petitions - one of which was signed by 172 children - at the town council's finance and general purposes committee meeting at the Civic Hall.

Budget pressures meant that managers at the £2.5m centre, in Ladygrove, had told staff they were scaling back opening hours to save money.

The news sparked uproar on the estate, with hundreds of people worried about losing a vital sports and community facility.

Conservative councillor Phil Hayward said the petitions from residents would be noted.

He added that the town council would be doing its best to help ensure the centre was open from 9am all week.

After two weeks of negotiations, Soll Leisure, which runs the centre on behalf of the council, agreed to drop its proposal to only open for 25 hours a week and said it would now open for much longer from Tuesday.

The centre will now be open from 4pm to 10pm on weekdays, and from 9am to 10pm at weekends. It will also open at 9am all week during school holidays.

The opening hours of the centre's gym will not be affected.