ONLINE petitions launched in the wake of budget cut proposals "cannot meet" the criteria for Clackmannanshire Council.

However, they will be referenced for elected representatives in a document compiled to help guide budget decisions in the coming weeks.

More than 4,600 have signed a change.org petition seeking to thwart the withdrawal of the Alloa Leisure Bowl contract, which is likely to lead to the closure of the county's public swimming pool.

Other facilities, including the six indoor bowling greens, fitness suites and the café, are also at risk – along with 80 jobs.

Staff and customers had taken a strong stand against the plans last week and launched petitions in both paper and digital form.

The online petition launched by Erin McClements quickly drew thousands of signatures.

However, in line with recently-revised policy, Clackmannanshire Council will not fully consider it as there is no way to confirm the addresses through petitions websites.

There is, however, still time for people to air their views through other channels, including online, through clacks.gov.uk/council/budget until 5pm this Friday, February 1.

Public drop-in events, where people can chat to council officers one-to-one, are also being held tonight and tomorrow – Wednesday and Thursday, January 30 and 31 – between 6pm an 9pm at Alva Academy and Alloa Town Hall, respectively.

Petitions in paper form are still being accepted and the minimum number of signatories required had been lowered following the December review.

A spokeswoman for the local authority told the Advertiser: "One of the reasons for reviewing the policy was as a result of the rise in online petitions including those on websites such as change.org.

"Petitions through this website cannot meet the council's petitions criteria.

"The main reason they don't meet the criteria is that the address of the petitioner is not displayed on the website so there is no way of verifying that petitioners live in Clackmannanshire.

"The requirement for petitioners to live in Clackmannanshire was retained as a requirement in the December 2018 review.

"Officers are aware that there are a number of online and paper petitions about several of the budget proposals circulating in the community just now.

"Those on the change.org website will not meet the formal requirements of the policy; however, officers have committed to including reference to them in the budget consultation document, which councillors will consider when making their decision on budget in the next few weeks."

The December review did commit to establishing whether the council's clackmannanshire.citizenspace.com platform could, in the future, be used for online petitions.

Visit clacks.gov.uk/council/publicpetitions/ for full guidance on petitions.