MEMBERS of a working men's club are planning a buy-back attempt to prevent a takeover.

The future of Lingdale Working Men's Club and Institute in Lingdale, near Guisborough, is uncertain because members said they could not afford to pay brewery charges.

They owe Wolverhampton Dudley Breweries (WDB) £105,000 - what remains of a £131,000 loan taken out in 1990 for the refurbishment of the club's building.

Club secretary Albert Leather said: "We had been told we would have to repay just £6,000 a year, which we can afford, but recently we have been hit with compulsory charges for not selling enough beer.

"On top of the loan, we just cannot afford the costs."

The committee owned the club until 1990 when it took out a loan from Tetley Brewery, which was given the deeds as security. Members then decided to move the loan to Cameron's brewery and the deeds were passed on to WDB when it took over Cameron's.

The club is now up for sale and one offer has already been received by the club committee for £145,000 from a potential buyer.

But Mr Leather said that some members wanted to pay off the loan to the brewery.

"We just need 20 of our members to pay around £5,000 each to pay off the loan and then we should hopefully get the deeds back for the club," said Mr Leather.

A spokesman for WDB said it was up to the committee what happened to the club

"We have had no formal proposal about this additional motion that committee members wish to buy the club and discharge their debt with the brewery," he said.

"We hope the Lingdale Club are able to find a solution and look forward to a satisfactory outcome."

Due to legal reasons, the spokesman was unable to confirm whether the brewery would return the deeds to the club's committee if the full amount owed to the brewery was paid off.

Club members will be holding a meeting at the clubhouse in the High Street in Lingdale on Sunday, November 16, at 11am.

They will consider a resolution that the club should accept an offer of £145,000 for the building.