Campaign founder Andrew Kuttner is urging Conservative Alton Town Council candidates to “nail their colours to the mast” over Kings Pond.

The council has been de-politicised since February 1 but he believes the key to scrapping plans to separate the pond from the River Wey is to beat councillors formerly called Liberal Democrats on May 4.

Mr Kuttner said: “I was pleased to see the first sentence in the item about Kings Pond in East Hampshire Conservatives’ In Touch brochure was ‘Local Conservatives agree with residents that the pond should remain online’.

“We need to be able to identify prospective councillors’ political affiliations, not try to hide them as Alton Town Council is attempting via its de-politicisation strategy. 

“If the Conservatives truly aspire to reclaim a majority on Alton Town Council by actually pledging to do the ‘right thing’, they need a campaign slogan such as ‘Kings Pond WILL be safe in Conservative hands’!”