EIGHT days after borough councillors decided to hold a further consultation period to discuss the future of Warrington's six threatened community centres, one member of the council's executive board said that she wasn't visiting one of the buildings to talk to users.

At last week's executive board meeting, members of the public were assured that Clr Maureen Banner would be touring the centres and speaking to users as part of the final period of consultation on the future of the centres.

But when the Guardian spoke to Clr Banner on Tuesday afternoon, she said that she didn't speak to anyone at Capesthorne Community Centre in Orford and was only present to support her Labour colleague, Clr Albert Clemow.

A decision over whether to close community centres at Capesthorne, Poole Park, Latchford and Causeway Park, as well as youth bases in Burtonwood and Culcheth, is expected at the end of the month.

Concerned users of Capesthorne Community Centre, who are all members of Blackbrook Senior Citizens' Association, did manage to speak to Clr Clemow, their local councillor, who believes that Capesthorne will remain open.

Clr Clemow said: "We have revisited the figures and provided that the regular users allow other people to use the centre at times when they don't need it, the figures will tip in the opposite direction.

"We were all very impressed by what we saw."

Mrs Mildred Ratcliffe, chairman of Blackbrook Senior Citizens' Association, has been a key campaigner over the past eight months for keeping Capesthorne open, and she said that everybody has suffered because of the death sentence that has been hanging over the centre.

But now she is hopeful that the council will re-examine its decision and that the centre will not have to close.

Mrs Ratcliffe said: "Councillors are naturally keen to ensure greater usage by other community groups at times when we are not using it, and are eager to promote the centre to other groups to boost its occupancy figures.

"So we are now hopeful that common sense will prevail and Clr Mike Hughes, Clr Maureen Banner and their executive colleagues will come to the right decision to save our centre, and the people of Warrington and the Warrington Guardian will have rescued a vital community asset.

"Let's just hope that the council makes the right choice now it is in possession of the true facts."

l Clr Banner visited Capesthorne again yesterday, Wednesday, along with Clr Hughes and Alan Stephenson, the council's director of enviroment, as part of their borough-wide tour.