Warwickshire County Council has defended its "appropriate approach" in deciding to close the popular activity centre Marle Hall this Autumn.

The council's cabinet decision on July 8 to close the hall has been met with disappointment as well as criticism over the decision-making process.

However, WCC has hit back at comments about transparency and the lack of public consultation.

Questions have been raised as to why documents relating to the closure were not made public prior to the July decision. The county council has defended its right to discuss the matter in the private and confidential sessions.

A council spokesperson said: "There are times when legislation makes certain categories of information exempt from this requirement. In the case of Marle Hall, the documents were classified as exempt because of the financial and personal information they contained.

"In particular, they were likely to identify individuals, information that relates to the financial or business affairs of any particular person and information relevant to ongoing employment consultations."

The educational activity centre, which is now due to close permanently on Friday 22 October 2021, had received over 7,000 petition signatures to save it.

However, after 50 years of use the centre will close, without any public consultation.

WCC has also defended this decision saying: "Marle Hall is a non-statutory traded service and so there is no express duty for the council to consult on its future. In such circumstances, we consider what approach is appropriate to make sure we are acting fairly.

"In the case of Marle Hall, this meant we consulted with those people who were likely to be directly affected by the decision in line with our employment law duties."

Any existing bookings that cannot go ahead will have all payments fully refunded and schools offered support to find an alternative provider.