A ROW has broken out after a Facebook page campaigning to save the former Caerleon campus building was changed into a Liberal Democrat supporters page.

The Save Caerleon Campus Facebook page, which was created to support the ongoing fight to save the 104-year-old building and 32-acre site earlier this year, attracted around 1,500 likes during the campaign.

But this week the page unexpectedly merged with the Newport and Severnside Liberal Democrats, taking the 1,500 supporters with it.

Former Caerleon Campus student Kerry Duke said she was disappointed by the move.

"I never knew it was a Liberal Democrat page," she said. "I only found out when I got a notification saying the page had changed its name."

Ms Drake, who lives in Cwmbran, said she felt it was unfair that people who had liked a seemingly non-political group were now listed on an explicitly political page.

"It was a campaign page by the community and it's been changed," she said. "There wasn't a proposal or any consultation or questioning, they just changed it.

"It doesn't feel right to me. I have un-liked it and I understand a lot of other people have done the same."

Another supporter, Timothy Blades, who lives in Nottingham, said he had heard about the issue "with great concern".

"It's sad that they can't just assist with whatever local people decide to do in regards to this matter," he said.

But Liberal Democrat campaigner Paul Halliday, who runs the page, said he had always been open about it being run by party members and did not feel he had done anything wrong.

"When we set up the page it was clearly a Liberal Democrat page," he said. "It's got a Liberal Democrat imprint and it shared things from us and other party groups."

He added that Facebook's procedure for merging pages is to informs all group members this is happening.

Mr Halliday said: "There's no attempt to deceive people, but the point was always of it being a Liberal Democrat page.

"It's not something we ever hid, it's not hard to look back and see posts by me and other Lib Dems.

"It's purely because this is going to be a better way for us to keep people informed.

"About 1,450 people have remained members so it's not like we have seen a large number of people abandon the page."

The University of South Wales left the 32-acre site at the end of July, with plans in the pipeline proposals to build 400 new homes on the site being met with widespread opposition from residents in the area.

Although Wales' heritage service Cadw is understood to be considering granting listed status to the 104-year-old former training college building, gatehouses and gate-piers, it is currently unclear whether this will go ahead.

Earlier this year the Welsh Government's economy and infrastructure secretary Ken Skates, who is also responsible for culture and heritage in Wales, recommended the building should be listed.