Campaigners have announced the next stage in their battle to save a landmark from possible demolition.

Those hoping to save Bowstring Bridge, in Leicester, are to apply to have it listed by English Heritage, which means it would be protected.

If they are successful, they will apply for grants to amass the £775,000 needed to pay for repairs.

Two previous attempts to get the bridge listed have failed, but campaigners said the bid now has far more public support.

Last week, protestors received a blow after the city council won a legal battle to shut the footpath on the bridge, in the city's West End – seen as the final barrier to its possible destruction.

The council has said it has fears over the bridge's safety, and could now apply to have it taken down.

De Montfort University, which owns part of the land the bridge is on, wants it to be demolished so it can build a swimming pool. It also wants the Pump and Tap pub, which stands on the site, to be demolished.

Lee Mullen is founder of the Save The Pump and Tap and Braunstone Gate Bridge campaign group on social networking website Facebook.

It is one of several groups campaigning for the bridge to be restored, and has 3,000 members.

Mr Mullen said: "Landmarks give a city their identity. Take them away, and you take away their soul.

"Indeed, it could be argued that the Eiffel Tower or Leicester's Guildhall are not necessary, but the idea of destroying them is ridiculous.

"The first stage may have gone the council's way, but people should not lose hope. While it is still there, we will do everything we can."

One of the key tests for getting protected status from English Heritage is the level of public support for a structure.

Protestors believe they have a better chance to list the bridge because more than 10,000 people are backing their campaign through various petitions.

Three of the groups – Leicester Civic Society, Leicestershire Industrial History Society and the Victorian Society – are to meet in the next fortnight to discuss the next step.

In 2005, city council engineers said the former railway bridge could only just support its own weight and would need £775,000 of repairs.

The council agreed in principle to knock the bridge down, but its legal department advised that before that could happen, it needed to apply to have it formally closed as a public right of way. That was achieved by council bosses at the hearing last week.

However, Leicester City Council said there were no plans to demolish the bridge. A spokeswoman said that a council truck had been driving over the bridge and, since it was raised at the hearing, it had found "a conscientious cleaner had been going up there "to clean it and this has now stopped".