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"Fastest" campaign success for Mercury

The Leicester Mercury celebrated one of its fastest-ever campaign successes when it forced a county council to back down over proposals to sell off a community centre.

After learning of Leicestershire County Council’s plans to discuss a report recommending selling the centre – used by hundreds of people every week – at its cabinet meeting, the Mercury quickly moved to launch a campaign to support residents who were opposed to the move.

The Mercury ran its first story revealing the sell-off plans on the Friday.

It was inundated with calls of support over the weekend and launched its campaign on Monday.

By Tuesday the leader of the county council had decided to withdraw the item from the cabinet agenda for that afternoon.

“Calls just came pouring in over the weekend in support of what we were planning,” said editor Nick Carter.

“We ran two editorials calling for a rethink and by Monday night the council had changed everything.

“We all know the influence the press can have on bodies such as councils, but when it works this quickly it is always refreshing.”

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