DOZENS of people turned out to prove they Love Ledbury during the launch meeting of a new community group.

About 50 town residents attended the community hall in Lawnside Road to hear plans for the group which intends to help good causes in the town.

Ideas put forward included providing the group with mowers and strimmers to combat problems brought about by Herefordshire Council's decision to scale back grass-cutting.

Raising enough funds to re-open the recently closed public toilets in Bye Street was also mooted.

"We were really pleased by the turnout," said town councillor Annette Crowe who came up with the Love Ledbury idea along with fellow town councillors Liz Harvey and Richard Hadley.

"Everybody loves Ledbury and that is why they came.

"There were lots of ideas and questions.

"We asked people whether they thought it was worth us working forward to the next stage and there was unanimous approval."

The 'next stage' includes approaching the Charity Commission to see if members can receive formal approval to set-up the group.

Cllr Crowe said she was relieved so many people attended last Thursday's (12th) meeting.

"It was a bit nail-biting because we were wondering whether anyone would turn up," she said.

"But people began arriving half an hour before the meeting started.

"The public toilet situation was mentioned, as were youth schemes, while one person came up with the idea of providing grass-cutting.

"We just want to spread the word at the moment.

"This is the first step but we want to be up and running as soon as possible."

Prior to the meeting, Cllr Crowe said Love Ledbury needs to take advantage of grants and other funding sources.

“At the moment, we’re definitely not making the most of these opportunities," she said.

“Love Ledbury is going to change that.”

Members of the public will be invited to join the co-operative as shareholders, meaning they can vote on projects and democratically elect a board of trustees.

The group plans to run a range of funding projects including collecting tins in town centre shops, a

town lottery, and drumming up sponsorship and advertising revenue from businesses.