A YOUTH club which has welcomed youngsters from Fishburn for more than four decades will close its doors this month.

Fishburn Youth Club announced “with deep regret” this week that it did not have the funds to continue the service which has been at the heart of the community for almost half a century.

Committee members of Fishburn Youth and Community Centre, which oversees the club, have expressed sadness at the closure but remain determined to get it off the ground again. Treasurer Scott Waller, 28, said: “The committee all have ties to the youth club because they’ve all come to it in the last 40 years.

“I’ve gone to it since I was about eight years old so it’s such a shame and hard to see it shut.

“The kids are devastated that they have got nowhere to go, especially the younger ones because they won’t be able to go out on dark nights.

“We are working on ways to try and see it reopen and are looking for any help that we can get to get it back open.”

The club currently attracts an average of 50 seven to 18-year-olds to its junior and senior sessions which run on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Mr Waller said the club first ran into difficulties last year when Durham County Council (DCC) announced it was pulling the plug on funding for youth clubs from April this year.

At the time Fishburn Parish Council stepped in and pledged £10,000 to keep the service in operation until this summer. However, chairman Andrew Pearson said until the council sets its budget in December or January, it is unable to contribute further funds.

The centre committee agreed to fund provision throughout September but it has been unable to secure more cash to keep it open.

As a result, the last session will be held on Friday, September 29.

The centre’s announcement on Facebook prompted a wave of support for the club.

More than 50 people reacted to the “ terrible news”.

Among them was Danielle Todd, who wrote: “Can’t believe such a decision would be made given the number of young people that attend the sessions and how much it benefits the community.”

While Pat Hill wrote: “The ones to suffer will be the young people of course - all of the skills and qualities that youth work develops to ordinary lads and lasses will be lost.”

Speaking about youth provision cuts, a DCC spokesperson previously said following an extensive public consultation in 2016, money and resources would be directed to where they will be of greatest benefit from April 2017.