THOUSANDS of Ryedale residents are to be quizzed over whether they would like better leisure facilities.

The move comes just months after councillors rejected plans to apply for lottery cash to provide a sports facility at Malton School.

Residents will be questioned by members of the Ryedale Liberal Democrats and asked to sign a petition supporting an application for Lottery cash.

Organisers say the lack of proper sports facilities in the Malton and Norton area is leading to boredom among young people and there is a serious lack of facilities for adults.

Coun Keith Orrell, leader of the Liberal Democrats in Ryedale, says he hopes the petition will reinforce the case for building a new facility.

"Earlier this year Ryedale District Council employed consultants and they came to the conclusion that Ryedale was lacking in good sporting facilities," he said.

"It was suggested that 60 per cent of the funding for a sports centre could be provided by the Lottery with the rest of the cash being provided by Ryedale District Council.

"Despite this councillors decided not to pursue the suggestions made in the consultation and the matter was dropped."

The petition which is to be carried out will help overturn that decision, said Liberal Democrat councillor Lindsey Burr.

"We think the consultants were right and we want the people to have their say over the matter," she said. If enough residents give their backing we could build a case for supporting improved sports facilities."

The plan is to apply for lottery cash to build a sports block at Malton School with facilities being available to pupils during school hours and open to the general public at night.

Paul Andrews, secretary to the Ryedale Liberal Democrats, said the process of canvassing signatures for the petition had already begun.

"We went to the village of Swinton at the weekend and we asked residents there to sign the petition - the majority of people supported it," he said.

"The petition asks people to sign if they support plans for a new facility for Malton and Norton and for the council to apply to the National Lottery for funding and to provide cash from their own reserves. We're aiming to ask residents not just in Malton and Norton and Ryedale's other urban areas but we also want to ask people who live in the more remote villages and hamlets."

But Conservative councillor and chairman of Ryedale District Council, David Cussons, expressed reservations about whether a petition was a fair way to gauge public opinion.

"We would like to see the public consulted about this properly with a questionnaire, not a petition," he said.