More than 2,000 people have signed a petition calling on councillors to keep public toilets open in public parks.

The petition about the "proposed closures of public toilets” was posted on Brighton and Hove City Council’s website by Adam Penwarden.

The petition was started in response to plans to close public toilets. The plans are due to be debated by the council’s environment, transport and sustainability committee tomorrow.

Mr Penwarden is co-director of the Preston Park parkrun, a timed 5km run that takes place in the park at 9am every Saturday.

The free event attracted more than 26,000 people to Preston Park alone last year, according to the petition, and was one of five parkruns across Brighton and Hove.

The parkrun in Hove Park attracted similar numbers who will be affected by a proposal to shut the toilets there throughout the winter.

A report to councillors outlined the potential effects on sports, including football, tennis and parkrun.

Mr Penwarden, 57, who co-founded the Preston Park event 10 years ago, said that the toilets were constantly in use.

He said: “There were some runners in the park this morning, three women in their seventies, just out for a run – and they needed to use the loo. We have people with disabilities who need the toilet.

“People will stop coming. I do not know how you can organise a parkrun without a toilet when you’ve got 500 people turning up and need the loo.”

Mr Penwarden was also concerned about the future of the Chalet café in Preston Park because the proposed closure of the toilets will leave staff with nowhere to go.

He said that the £300,000 saving was relatively small “considering the scale of the problem”.

The council has planned cuts to a number of non-statutory services to tackle a £19 million shortfall next year and a potential budget gap of £54 million over the next four years.

In July 2021, the council brought toilet cleaning “in-house”. This resulted in higher staffing costs as work patterns changed. The lowest-paid staff received an increase and workers had contracted hours rather than zero-hour contracts.

The petition can be signed on the council’s website until Wednesday 8 February and is scheduled to be presented to the council’s “budget” policy and resources committee the next day.

The environment, transport and sustainability committee is due to meet at Hove Town Hall at 4pm.

The policy and resources committee is due to meet at the town hall at 4pm on Thursday 9 February. Both meetings are scheduled to be webcast on the council’ website.