A petition has been launched to "set free" the gardens of Falmouth's Princess Pavilion that have been closed for the last six months.

The pavilion, including its events venue, cafe and associated Gyllyngdune Gardens, has been closed since the beginning of lockdown in March.

Earlier this week the Packet revealed how an urgent rescue package has been sought to save the facilities after GLL, which manages the site, admitted: "We cannot afford to carry on as we are."

Staff have been put under risk of redundancy and GLL, which was awarded a 25-year contract for the venue by Cornwall Council back in 2016, starting the following year, is currently waiting to her the outcome of a funding bid to the government.

Read next: Future of Falmouth's Princess Pavilion under threat and staff facing redundancy

Now a petition called "Set the Pavilion Gardens Free for the People of Falmouth" has been launched, in a bid to get the grounds of the site opened up for public use again.

It can be signed at www.thepetitionsite.com/528/564/644/set-the-pavilion-gardens-free-for-the-people-of-falmouth

It has been set up by Sean Stratton, who wrote: "The Princess Pavilion and its gardens have remained locked away from the people of Falmouth since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Open spaces and gardens have never been more valuable to us for our physical and mental health.

"To deny public spaces to us during lockdown and still is a travesty that must be put right and put right right now!

"We have the time now to fix this before we enter the winter flu season and the potential of further lockdowns.

"Please sign this petition demanding that Cornwall Council and GLL, the site operators, free our pavilions."

Explaining more about why he started the petition, he added: "I live near the Princess Pavilion and to walk past it on a regular basis, seeing its open spaces being let go and locked away when so many local people need it, frustrates the hell out of me."