Campaigners gather in their bathrobes to ensure the future of Carlisle's Turkish Baths

Campaigners fighting to save Carlisle's historic Turkish Baths have taken part in an eye-catching protest.

They gathered outside the civic centre dressed in bathrobes where they called on Carlisle City Council to ensure the James Street facilities have a future.

However, the authority says there are no plans to demolish the Grade II-listed building but they cannot guarantee they will be able to run the baths in the future.

Councillor Stephen Higgs, portfolio holder for Culture, Heritage and Leisure said: "We believe the Turkish Baths has a great future. Though there was never any plans to demolish the building, there will need to be a period of time when the site is closed while the 1970s pool is cleared as part of the railway station development.

"We will work with the Friends of Carlisle Victorian and Turkish Baths to keep this period of closure as minimal as safely possible and work with them on a community asset transfer."

Campaigners believe a community buyout of the site is the best solution.

Julie Minns, of Friends of Carlisle Turkish Baths, said: "We think the next alternative is for the community to step up and to run those baths and we've already started talking to potential partners who might wish to work with us and become funding partners and use different parts of the building."