A COMMUNITY College will close its doors for the last time in May after more than 30 years.

Chilton Community College, based in Chilton Primary School, opened in 1984 and has welcomed tens of thousands of visitors since.

However, the number of people using the facilities has more than halved in recent years and coupled with budget cuts, Durham County Council says the college is not “financially sustainable.”

Andy Coulthard, chair of governors at Chilton Community College, said: “The community college has always been a non-profit making organisation.

“The college is part of the primary school but is a stand alone charity, we open on an evening time when the school is closed and over the years have opened over the weekend.

“In 2014 we had 13,000 users a year, or people through the doors attending the college, and looking at the figures for 2017 this has dropped to 5,000.

“So we have dropped almost 9,000 users.”

Several groups and classes currently run from the community college, including St John’s Ambulance, a Reiki class, a Taekwondo club and a youth club.

There is also fitness equipment available and squash courts to use.

Mr Coulthard added: “The key thing for us is that the services that are based at the college at the moment are not lost and we are working with the groups to find them another base in the area.”

The college will close on May 31.