One of the oldest and most well-known race tracks in the UK is under threat, and there is an online campaign to help avoid its closure.

Track organiser Barry Dring has set up an online petition to keep the Butts Quarry track in Derbyshire still running, following a noise abatement notice. More than 11,500 supporters have already signed the petition but the target is 15,000. You can add your name HERE.

“I have created this petition in order demonstrate to the appropriate people that not only is the activity at Butts Quarry not considered a nuisance by the vast majority of local residents, but is in fact welcomed as part of the heritage and tradition of the area,” he says when explaining the issue.

“Butts Quarry off road facility has been served with an abatement notice for noise, this was dropped on our doorstep two days before Christmas Day in a deliberate attempt to make our appeal more difficult due to time constraints. The council have been forced by one individual into a judicial review despite the issue already being resolved and measures put in place. This could mean that we are to be soon closed.”

The track has an agreement with the Environmental Agency to only operate once every 14 days between the hours of 9am and 5pm, along with noise testing where required. “Obviously this massively restricts its viability as a business, it does however allow us to maintain this beautiful area of land and enable many adults and children alike to persue their passion in a safe and controlled environment,” he says.

“We never wavered from this agreement and yet with the knowledge that the local council are under threat from one local our case has miraculously been reopened and we have now been issued with an abatement notice, one that we are going to fight with confidence.”