Crowds gathered at the Leas Lift yesterday (27 March) to protest at Shepway Council's decision to give up the lease of Folkestone's Historic water lift.

Protest supporter, Liberal Democrat leader Lynne Beaumont said: "It's a fantastic turnout.

"The council didn't stop to think about the decision to close the lift. They were wrong and sometimes when you're wrong you have admit it."

But the future of the popular Folkestone tourist attraction, which was built in the 1800s looks gloomy after it was revealed to be making a substantial loss prompting the council to terminate the lease.

The protest on the Leas Picture by Max Hess

Many residents however, believe the closure will be a loss to Folkestone.

The decision to close the lift has been 'called in' to Shepway's Corporate Scrutiny Committee, which will meet on Tuesday (31 March) at 7.00pm at Shepway Civic Centre to discuss the matter.

The meeting, which is open to the public will listen to local groups and residents on the impact of the council's decision.."

A sceptical leader of the Shepway Independents Cllr Colin Tearle who was at the protest said: "For Shepway Council to blame the `closure` of the Leas Lift on economic grounds is laughable.

"Why not return the whole of the Leas to the Radnor Estate on the same grounds if they really wanted to save money?

"No, I think there is another as yet undisclosed reason for this, otherwise there would be no need for all the secrecy surrounding the Cabinet decision and the Scrutiny Committee `call-in`".