Three thousand people have now signed the Fight For Middlewich petition calling for improvements in the town.

Campaigners have organised another public meeting for Tuesday (February 1) and there will be a big push to get the additional 2,000 signatures required so the petition can be presented at a future Cheshire East Council committee meeting.

Fight For Middlewich (FFM) campaigner Laura Turner told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "We've got a meeting on February 1 at Middlewich football club at 7pm.

"I'm going to do a presentation on all the petition objectives, where we're up to with them at the moment, what still needs to be done and, obviously then, getting volunteers over the next four weeks to collect signatures."

The petition closes at the end of February.

"Because our issues cover nearly every committee that's in Cheshire East, I don't know what the petitions' team intend to do in getting us on the agenda or which committee they will get us on," said Laura.

"I'm still waiting on that at the minute but, obviously, I won't get an answer until we've got the 5,000 signatures."

The group has been campaigning on a number of issues and claims Cheshire East Council has neglected the town for years.

One of the main aims is to improve youth provision in the town.

Laura said: "We're looking predominantly for over 12s at the moment. We have a problem with crime rates with our teenagers.

"I'm meeting up with the youth project team workers from Cheshire East Council on February 4, so what we're trying to do is get the funding pulled together for that."

Campaigners are also calling for the council to deal with a number of other issues.

These include finding a prompt resolution to the argument surrounding the ownership of Middlewich cemetery and for the gates to be fixed by March 2022 – although this is not a Cheshire East matter as the council is not responsible for the cemetery.

FFM is opposed to a landfill in the town and objects to any proposed growth or expansion within Ansa, the council's wholly owned waste and recycling company.

Campaigners are also calling for a swimming pool in Middlewich and more infrastructure in line with the growing population.

Laura said: "The youth project and the cemetery is big on the list, they're the two highest ones – and then obviously, the third one would be stop the growth in Ansa."

She added: "But really, all the issues are equally important. The main objective of getting the 5,000 signatures is to be heard at Cheshire East Council level."