A PUBLIC meeting later this month could prove vital in the battle to save a youth hostel.

The Youth Hostel Association (YHA) announced earlier this year that Aysgarth, in Wensleydale, was among ten hostels around the UK which would have to go.

It said it needed to balance the £5m which last year's foot-and-mouth crisis cost the organisation.

The YHA said plans for a comprehensive modernisation programme would be in jeopardy if it did not take drastic remedial action.

However, the Wensleydale business community - itself hard hit by the fallout from foot-and-mouth - argued that the loss of the hostel, which brought 7,000 people into the area last year, would be a blow to the local economy.

North Yorkshire County Council, Richmondshire District Council and the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority have led a campaign for a change of heart.

Now, a public meeting has been called at the Aysgarth hostel at 8pm on Tuesday, August 27. Those committed to the campaign to save the building are urged to attend.

Jeremy Walker, chief executive of the county council, said: "It is vital as many people as possible attend to share their views and look at plans and ideas suggested already.

"The greater the support shown at the meeting, the more likely it is that funding will be secured."

The protests have so far proved enough to convince the YHA to confirm a stay of execution and, since April, there have been on-going negotiations over the possibility of extra cash to invest in the Aysgarth facilities.

It has emerged that if grants can be secured from the Government and from Europe, the hostel could be developed to include a community office, a computer suite, including access to the Internet, and a drop-in centre for young people.

YHA regional manager Simon Ainley said yesterday: "We have been impressed with the local community's sense of ownership of the hostel.

"If the association had devised a closure programme and no one was bothered, it would have been very disappointing so it is good to know people care. However, the association has already said, if the funds can be found, it will revisit the decision to shut Aysgarth and that remains the position today."