UNISON representatives will be in Darlington town centre on Saturday to garner support for their campaign against government cuts to council funding.

More than 500 jobs have been lost at Darlington Borough Council over the last three years and budget cuts have led to services such as the Arts Centre closing down and the future of others looking uncertain.

Unison’s Darlington Local Government branch has launched a petition asking the government to stop the cuts and to provide a fair level of funding to the town compared with the rest of the country.

Representatives will be at Joseph Pease place on Saturday between 10am and 1pm on Saturday to encourage as many Darlington residents as possible to support their petition.

Joe White, Unison’s branch secretary, said: “Darlington has recently had great success by pulling together to save central government jobs for the town.

“We have already lost more jobs at the council than have been saved at Mowden Hall.

“We call on everyone in Darlington to join our campaign to stop even more jobs losses and the destruction of vital services.”

As well as pledging support for the online petition, visitors to the Unison stand will also be able to participate in a game of “Council Kerplunk” – to see how many people you can remove from a service before it comes crashing down.

The petition can be signed online at www.darlingtonsos.info