A DATE for the closure of the Madresfield Allotments has been put back to 2007 by Malvern Town Council.

Previously, Malvern Hills District Council and the Madresfield Allotments Association had negotiated a phased closure of the plots ending in 2010, so that more space would be available for the adjoining Great Malvern Cemetery.

But when the site was taken over by the town council in 1999, the then town clerk Stuart McDonough ordered the plot to be vacated by the end of the year.

After negotiation with the association, this was amended to 2004.

However, the association still hoped that the agreement that they had had with the district council would be honoured.

Demand for plots is high and the town council has a legal duty to provide allotments for personal cultivation, where there is an unsatisfied demand.

At a meeting of the town council's environment and leisure committee on Monday (July 15), councillors voted to approve a report by the present town clerk Shirley Young, which concluded that a more realistic closure date would be 2007.

The decision, which was welcomed by allotment association members at the meeting, means that discussions on the extension of the cemetery will be reopen- ed.

"We're extremely pleased," said Peter Lawson, chairman of Madresfield Allotments Association.

"We wanted something which we could work with, I think they are being very fair. From my own point of view, I'm more than satisfied."