SALISBURY Green Party members were at the Market Square on Saturday to gain support for the online petition calling for their inclusion into the leadership debate.

Currently the nationwide petition on change.org has over 280,000 signatures and membership for the party last week overtook the UKIP to stand at 48,476.

The same figures are reflected locally and the Salisbury Green Party has reported record membership numbers, with 116 people signed up in the constituency.

Alison Craig, the parliamentary candidate for Salisbury, said: “We were absolutely mobbed by people who wanted to sign the petition. It was a very, very cold day and we were in one of the only parts of the Market Square that was in shade, but we had to stay because people kept on coming.”