THE future of a park visitor attraction appears to be under threat after the council refused to rule out closing it down.

Pets' Corner in Sherdley Park, a favourite with families in St Helens since it first opened in 1965, is home to a variety of animals and is free to the public.

However, the Star revealed last December that in a further cost cutting exercise the council planned to reduce the number of park rangers from 11 to four with all assistant ranger positions to be scrapped altogether.

The service has already seen a reduction in the number of rangers from 26 to 11 in recent years and the latest plans would see just four working on 64 parks across the borough.

The latest round of cuts have led to questions over the future of Pets Corner.

Despite the amount of visitors to St Helens parks increasing by a reported 3,000 to 31,000 the council are believed to be looking at ways of saving a further £16m from budgets, with park services among those under threat.

Commenting about Pets Corner a council spokesman said: "This facility is under review and we are looking at various options as to how the service might be delivered in the future. As yet though no decisions have been taken."