A WYRE Forest campaigner is encouraging residents unhappy with the district council to “get their voices heard”.

Michael Wrench, Wyre Forest UKIP Parliamentary spokesman, says council leaders are “ignoring” people’s views, citing the new Finepoint headquarters, car parking charges and leisure centre provision as examples.

District council leader, Conservative councillor John Campion, argued the council had conducted a “wide range” of public engagement over “all sorts of issues”.

The protest will take place outside Wyre Forest House, Finepoint, from 10am tomorrow and coincides with a district council open day, when residents will have the opportunity to tour the building between 10.30am and 3pm.

Mr Wrench said: “We want people who are not happy to come down and have their say. The main message is the council has got to start listening.

Every week we seem to hear of some group unhappy with council decisions.

“They have to engage with the public and not just say ‘we have had a meeting and now we are going to listen’. They seem to put out plans and just carry on regardless. UKIP are not the only unhappy ones but we want to follow up on something we fought for and give residents a voice. It is not just election time when people can have their say.”

He said a petition organised by UKIP in February last year against the headquarters being built and signed by 3,300 people was “brushed aside”.

Mr Campion, who said the building would save the council £500,000 a year and protect frontline services, added: “The right to protest is ingrained in our society and if they want to protest that is fine.”