A CAMPAIGN to save a live music venue in Malvern was launched this week when a 76-signature petition was sent to the district council.

Bands and regulars at the Great Malvern Club were appalled when chairman Mal Downey closed its doors on New Year's Day.

The Post Office, owners of the building, will not offer a five-year lease, which the club needs to borrow £15,000 for vital refurbishment work. Dr Downey says an agreed two-year lease is not long enough.

The petition has been sent to district council leader Tom Wells, who has expressed an interest in the building being developed as part of a town centre regeneration project.

Club regular Lynn Calvert-Jones asked revellers at a drum and bass event on New Year's Eve, the club's last night of opening, to sign petition forms.

"If they decide they're going to put something else in that building we should all have a say," she said.

Mrs Calvert-Jones said Great Malvern Club was relatively soundproof, so it was the ideal place for bands to play.

"I'm absolutely devastated and I really want the club to re-open. Where else are the young people supposed to go?" she said.

Her 18-year-old daughter Camilla is also backing the campaign. She said Great Malvern Club was "one of a kind".

Council leader Tom Wells said he recognised Malvern's desperate shortage of suitable concert venues and that the club provided a place for local bands to play.

He said the potential to develop the post office building was one of many options included in the town centre strategy but was not the council's immediate focus.

"My attention is focusing on relocating the mail sorting facility, which adds nothing to the centre of Great Malvern," he said.

Coun Wells said he was happy to meet with representatives from Great Malvern Club to see how the council could assist them, but ultimately it was a matter for the Post Office and the club.

Further petition forms are available in businesses around Malvern, including The Stock Exchange and Promenade Antiques. However, Mrs Calvert-Jones said she thought it would be better for people to write individual letters to the council and the Malvern Gazette.

Campaigners have also set up a website to discuss the closure of the club and the town centre redevelopment at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ save_great_malvern_club.