Taxpayers to cover £200,000 financial hole for the Downs' upkeep

Bristol taxpayers are going to have to cover a 200-thousand pound hole in the finances of the group that runs The Downs.

Events held on the Downs are supposed to bring in enough money to maintain the green space, but last year huge legal costs caused by a row with the zoo, mean they overspent by 207-thousand quid.

Campaigners had gone to court to oppose the zoo's right to use The Downs for overflow parking.

The Downs, one of the largest green spaces in Bristol, are run by a committee made up of Bristol councillors and the Society of Merchant Venturers.

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