FAMILIES turned out in force to enjoy a picnic on a piece of open land in Shirehampton and show how much it was valued.

About 200 people, many of them children, enjoyed an afternoon in the sun at Shire's Big Picnic to highlight their opposition to possible development of The Lamplighters site.

Part of the land, together with Daisy Field, are two areas in Shirehampton that could be built on under Bristol City Council proposals.

Under its strategy for parks and green spaces, any land identified as "low value" will be sold off and developed, with the aim of improving the remaining open space in the city.

New Avonmouth councillor Siobhan Kennedy Hall and fellow campaigner Charlotte Leslie organised the picnic on the Lamplighters site so residents could show how much they wanted to protect the area.

Those attending were also urged to write to the council to press the case for keeping the land open. A petition has already been started ahead of the plans going to public consultation next year.