A PETITION to sink Liverpool’s bid to grab a slice of Southampton’s cruise trade with taxpayers’ cash has already smashed the level of public support the Mersey city gathered for its plan.

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More than 3,000 people have signed a petition urging ministers to reject a deal to let Liverpool use its taxpayer funded £21m Pier Head terminal to start and finish cruises.

An industry group, the UK Cruise Ports Alliance, has launched a high-profile campaign to galvanise opposition to the Department for Tranpsort (DfT) proposal to lift a ban on lucrative “turnaround”

cruises if Liverpool pays back just a quarter of the grants over 15 years.

Southampton and other ports say the deal amounts to “unfair competition” and are demanding all the public money – given on condition the terminal would only hosts calling cruise ships – is paid back.

Liverpool’s Get On Board campaign raised a 2,500-name petition to persuade shipping minister Mike Penning to give the go-ahead for the controversial plan.

Businesses and leading politicians from Southampton to Newcastle are uniting to fight the proposal which could drain tens of millions from cruise port economies and threaten thousands of jobs.

An UKCPA spokesman said: “The level of support from people across the Solent has been phenomenal and the backing from the Daily Echo has really sent the number of signatures soaring.

“People in cruise ports across the country are genuinely outraged that their taxes could be used to poach their jobs and undermine their economies. It would be a disgraceful abuse of public money and local people are determined to fight it.

“Just because we’ve trumped Liverpool’s numbers doesn’t mean we can afford to relax. The Government seems minded to give them the green light this time and we need to demonstrate exactly what people feel about that and persuade them to think again. The time to act is now.”

Liverpool council leader Joe Anderson has accused Southampton of being “selfish” and “greedy” and insists his council’s bid for a turnaround facility is based upon the expansion of the cruise market.

• Sign the petition
• Download template letter of rejection
• Download a petition form
• UK Cruise Port Alliance on Facebook
• DfT Consultation