THE fight to save Portland Coastguard is going to the heart of Government.

On Monday the Echo, together with South Dorset MP Richard Drax and supporters of the campaign will travel to the capital to hand the petition in at the iconic black door of Number Ten Downing Street.

For the last three months the Echo has been running a campaign to site a new coastguard supercentre in the borough, backed by Weymouth and Portland Borough Council.

The Portland Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre on Weymouth Harbour side faces the axe under new government and Maritime and Coastguard Agency plans currently under consultation.

Nine stations would be closed and replaced by the new supercentre.

The petition now has 21,965 signatures. The council is working on a proposal which will be submitted to parliament before the consultation period closes on October 6.

The issue of Portland Coastguard will also be raised in a half-hour debate in the House of Commons.

MP Richard Drax has won a ballot place to speak on the subject in Westminster Hall for twenty minutes on October 11.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport Mike Penning, whose responsibilities include the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, will then have ten minutes to answer the issues raised.

Mr Drax said he was relishing the opportunity.

He said: “I’m absolutely delighted to have secured the debate for everyone concerned to put our case to the minister.

“The reason I am going down the path is because I have yet to hear one good reason why the supercentre should go to Southampton.

“We have so many good reasons why it should be located here.

“It could be established very quickly and I believe at far less cost than at Southampton.”

Mr Drax said that he hoped to hear a reason why the government were so set on siting the supercentre in Hampshire.

He added: “I think there are some excellent reasons why the centre should be here.

“Firstly we have various properties that we could use that would be ready for people to move in to quickly.

“Secondly, and possibly most importantly, I suspect that if we are not the busiest coastal area then we are at least in the top two for shore activity.

“And thirdly, we are a growing area of coastal sailing and expertise.”