A petition to keep a butterfly garden open has gathered more than 60,000 signatures.

Butterfly World, in Chiswell Green, closed in December 2015 after the owners, Breheny Civil Engineering, said that it was not profitable.

But a team of volunteers, charity workers and friends of the Butterfly World Project set up a petition, and charity, to save the centre from closure.

Save Butterfly World started the “St Albans Backs Butterfly World” initiative earlier this year. It is now hoping to get backing from the whole of Hertfordshire.

Chairman John Horsfield said: “Our petition was criticised because it attracted support from all over the world including some people who were unlikely to visit the environmental project if it reopened.

“So in June we launched “St Albans Backs Butterfly World” but we received lots of comments on social media asking why we had limited it to St. Albans.

“This project was so important to the whole of Hertfordshire, so we are hoping people from across the whole county will get behind us and help save the butterflies.”

Despite being located in Chiswell Green, of the 12,000 schoolchildren who visited the centre, many of them came from 67 primary schools from all over Hertfordshire.

The campaign is now inviting MPs and civic leaders from the county to sign the petition and support the charity.

Children have also painted hundreds of butterflies that are being displayed at Rickmansworth Library throughout November.

The £27m centre, that opened in 2009, was home to more than 600 tropical butterflies. About 500,000 people have visited since it opened - 120,000 of those were in 2015, making it the centre’s most popular year.

The plan was to build a 100m bio dome for 10,000 butterflies and the charity is hoping it will secure enough money to build it.

Mr Horsfield said: “We hope to present the 60,000 signatures and evidence of local support to Breheny Construction before the end of the year and see if there is a way to enable us to take on the site and run it as a charity.”

To sign the petition go to: www.thepetitionsite.com/en-gb/takeaction/665/474/121