Campaigners fighting to stop a land sale at a controversial sporting site have been told they have three months to raise £4million.

At a public meeting organised by Barnes' Vision on Wednesday, February 5, Councillor Serge Lourie, leader of Richmond Council, agreed the delay so interested parties could try and raise the money from other sources.

Last month Richmond Council's cabinet decided to allow four firms to bid for a 5.5 acre area of Barn Elms in Barnes which will be sold or leased in order to fund redevelopment of the rest of the site.

That decision was called in by councillors Tony Arbour and David Porter for further discussion by the council's finance overview and scrutiny committee on Tuesday, February 19.

Opposition councillors claim there has been no demonstration why it was necessary to sell the land, no suggestion other methods of funding were discussed and said the sale of the land was unjustified.

Barnes councillors said Coun Lourie had made no effort to find alternative funding and accused him of being hell-bent on sticking to a sale.

Coun John Coombs, Richmond Council cabinet member for youth culture and leisure, attended last week's meeting and said he was horrified the majority of residents thought the council was planning a complete sell-off rather than a partial one, continuing to manage the rest of the site.

Coun Coombs explained the leasing or sale of land that had long been allocated for that purpose would provide the money to upgrade the playing fields and rebuild the three pavilions on the site and it was the only proposal left He said: "It is a pity that Barnes Conservatives prefer to make cheap political points, rather than work with Barnes' Vision in their effort to see if they can identify sources to raise the £4 million for this scheme."