THE council is 'working hard' to secure the immediate and long-term future of Knights Grange following the recent closure of the golf course.

Since Mack Trading ceased trading on October 3, the course - along with Hooton Golf Club in Ellesmere Port - has remained closed.

Cheshire West and Chester Council immediately moved to terminate the lease in order to take back control of the sites and plan for the future.

In an update, Cllr Louise Gittins, CWAC cabinet member for communities and wellbeing, said: “As soon as the council got back possession we undertook an immediate assessment of the sites and started an initial maintenance programme including mowing of fairways, tees, semi rough and greens.

"The work has been underway for the last couple of weeks.

“At the same time the council has been investigating the best options to bring the sites back into operational use as soon as possible.

"We are currently exploring both an interim solution and long term arrangements.

"This process involves discussions and soft market testing with potential external operators.

“Whilst we are not able to give a timeframe at the moment, we are working hard to resolve this situation and are making good progress on this matter.

“To ensure activities can continue at the wider Knights Grange site the council has arranged for access to the changing rooms for football clubs and is working with the barn operator to allow events to continue.

“We understand that regular players, members and users are keen to have more detail. As more information is available, we will make further announcements.

"We plan to capture information about regular players andmembers to allow us to communicate more widely when we have an update.”