A campaign has been launched in a bid to prevent one of Norwich's oldest buildings moving out of public ownership and into the hands of the highest bidder at auction.

The Britons Arms, on historic Elm Hill, has been listed for auction by Norwich City Council, but a petition has been started to try to prevent the sale going ahead.

The landmark 15th century building has been listed by Norfolk Property Services – which manages this aspect of the city council's property portfolio – at a guide price of �100,000 to �130,000 for an auction at the start of November. The Grade II listed property was entrusted to the city in 1951 and then began life as the Britons Arms Coffee House.

The building's tenants, sisters Gilly Mixer, 58, and Sue Skipper, 60, have built a reputation for allowing the historic building to be used for heritage open days and visits by the public over the last 35 years, as well as running it as a cafe and restaurant.

Now a campaign and petition called 'Up In Arms' has been launched to try to stop that from changing and yesterday a protest against the plans was held.

It is a situation of major concern for the sisters, who say they were first told of the city council's intention to sell the building in May of this year and received a letter on Tuesday of last week, giving them a time frame for purchasing the building themselves by October 10 and exchanging papers by October 31.

The sisters say this alternative option, which they described as 'unrealistic and unachieveable', had not been discussed before because they believed the Norwich Preservation Trust had been in discussion with the city council throughout the summer about a proposal to take on the lease of the building and keep it under public ownership.

In their statement, the sisters said: 'We have had the best interests of the building and the city's heritage at the forefront of our decision making at all times.

'We have involved experts and interested parties from across the heritage, architectural and historical fields. Their support for a solution involving Norwich Preservation Trust has been unanimous.'

The pair say that 'increasingly urgent' repair work to the building - one of a handful of thatched houses left in the city after it escaped the great fires of the 16th century - has now risen in cost from �10,000 to �35,000 due to what they see as a lack of action from the city council.

A statement about the potential sale from the Green Party said: 'Norwich City Council is in the process of assessing its asset portfolio which contains over 1,000 properties, including a large number of historic buildings and an investment portfolio of �56m.

'These buildings are a valuable heritage not only in their unique historical identity, but also as a powerful draw for outside interest groups including tourists and historical societies, both nationally and around the world.

'The city council is disposing of the Britons Arms as it is in need of substantial upgrading and repair and is regarded as a financial liability.'

A city council spokesman confirmed it had invited a formal offer to buy the freehold of the Britons Arms from the current tenants and would not accept any offers from other interested parties ahead of the auction, with the exception of the Norwich Preservation Trust.

The trust is a registered charity which aims to preserve and maintain buildings of architectural or historic merit in Norwich.

A spokesman for the Norwich Preservation Trust said, at the moment, it was not involved with the campaign, but was concerned about the building going to auction.

A Facebook group has been set up to publicise the campaign, search for 'Up In Arms - Save the Britons Arms' to join or sign the online petition at www.thepetitionsite.com/1/up-in-arms/

Do you think The Britons Arms should be saved? Write to Evening News Letters, Prospect House, Rouen Road, Norwich, NR1 1JE or email eveningnewsletters@archant.co.uk