Hundreds of people have backed a petition calling on Stoke-on-Trent City Council to appoint a local operator to run a café in a local park.

This follows the shock closure of the 74-seater Pavilion Café which had opened in 2020 following the £4.5 million transformation of the park.

However, it has been locked up since February when it closed its doors just three years after opening. Bradford-based Caterleisure was awarded the contract to run the café in 2020. Park users had previously raised concerns over the cafe's opening times – particularly in relation to its opening hours – which they believed was preventing it becoming more popular.

The petition received 698 verified signatures in total and was heard at a committee at Stoke City Council for consideration. It was announced that there is a possible operator interested in taking over the café and that officers were meeting with them to finalise any future deal.

It was announced last week that there is a possible operator interested in taking over the cafe (Nub News).

The petition stated: "People living in Stoke and Hanley have few green spaces where they can go for a walk, exercise, take the dog out and have something to eat or drink. A considerable sum of money was spent on the refurbishment of the Pavilion Café. 

"This could have revived the park if it had been properly promoted and served people at times when they were likely to use the facilities. Instead, very few people knew about it, lack of marketing and signposting, and it was closed at key times, for example after school and during the park run.

"We understand that the café has been run as a franchise and that it is the company with the franchise that has made the decision to close the café. Would it not make sense to seek a local firm to take on the café, one with an understanding of the area and a connection with the people that live nearby?"

Despite the petition calling on a local firm to be the operator of the café, Councillor Ross Irving (Con) called on the council to see if one of the 'big boys' wanted a chance at running it. He said that other operators have faced similar problems in the fact they can't make enough money to make a profit.

He told the committee: "Lets see if any of the big boys are interested, we might find that the large scale caterers, KFC, McDonalds, somebody like that might be interested and they have a fighting chance of being successful. I know that some of the small, local traders have tried hard but there is a litany of failed business attempts."

Councillor Amjid Wazir, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Environment and Enforcement commented that it is a good business opportunity for whoever takes over. He said: "We want this as soon as possible, officers are in meetings with them, officers are working on it, somebody is interested."

READ MORE: Plans revealed to open new convenience store in empty Hanley unit

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