Supporters of a threatened advice centre whose petition caused a mass council walkout have insisted they are not a political group.

A request for Enfield Council to reconsider its decision not to renew the lease of the Federation for Enfield Community Associations (FECA) in Mottingham Road, Edmonton, was supposed to be heard last night (September 21).

However, it could not be debated in public due to ongoing legal proceedings between FECA and the council, and when the Labour group refused to bring a behind-closed-doors debate on the subject forward to earlier in the meeting, all 19 Conservative councillors chose to leave the chamber.

The many FECA supporters in the public gallery cheered this decision, but association heads were quick to disassociate themselves from party politics.

Vicky Dungate, chairman of FECA, speaking before the vote and walkout: “We’d like to stress we are non-political. There is a need for the face to face service. As you can see in the gallery tonight, we have many supporters.”

Mark Bellas, who has worked at FECA since 1995, said he had expected the debate not to take place, but admitted he was surprised by the walkout.

He said: “They say it is going through the courts, the petition is asking them to remove it from the courts, we are asking them to overturn the decision they have already made.

“At the end of the day, when we go to court, we’ve got more than enough evidence to put forward to the judge. Then they will make the decision.

“We gave them another 366 signatures today, and it looks like we have got half the council on our side.

“We are a non-political organisation, but if one side will not talk, what can we do?”

FECA, which has operated since 1972, is currently in a court battle with the council over its future.

In April 2015 FECA’s previous tenancy agreement was ended, and despite months of negotiations they were told at the start of this year the council wanted to repossess their site.

A petition backing FECA gathered over 4,000 signatures. If a petition has more than 3,124 valid signatures it must be debated at Full Council.