THE leader of Torfaen council has admitted making an off-hand comment that he was going to close a valued community centre - to a campaign group which had just handed over a petition to save it.

Users of the Settlement in Pontypool handed a petition into Torfaen council in an attempt to claim back space for public use after officers began sharing it facilities in September.

But Diane Larcombe, who attended the Civic Centre on October 16 to hand in the petition with five others, said leader cllr Bob Wellington told them after the meeting that he was closing the Settlement - leaving them furious.

Cllr Wellington insists that he said it in a "jovial manner" and quickly retracted the comment.

He said: “We currently have no intentions of shutting the Settlement. We are working hard to keep it open.

“I think The Settlement is a wonderful place as it improves learning and gives people of all ages a chance to learn new skills.”

But Ms Larcombe said: “We were all so angry and shouting. He has no right to say he’s closing the Settlement.”

The group were invited upstairs to his office and cllr Wellington said that he explained that there are no plans of closing it.

The centre in Trosnant Street has provided valuable education services to adults for decades.

But members of the centre say that it was meant to be for community use and that the reduced size is impacting on this.

Members handed in a petition containing 394 signatures asking the council to give them more space to hold classes.

Since the changes, they say the centre has had to discontinue some courses.

A Torfaen council spokesman explained that the council’s adult education service was required to find savings of £90,000 in the 2014/15 financial year.

Difficult decisions had to be taken, they added.