A CAMPAIGN to save Aysgarth youth hostel from closure has ended in defeat.

The Youth Hostels Association confirmed on Monday that the premises would shut at the end of the year.

The organisation blamed lack of cash support towards a major refurbishment and has withdrawn its application for European regional development fund money after it failed to secure match funding.

Aysgarth was one of ten hostels earmarked for closure more than a year ago but won a stay of execution following a public outcry.

A feasibility study concluded the premises needed a £500,000 redevelopment to ensure its future and this cost has now increased to an estimated £700,000.

Bids for partnership funding were unsuccessful and only £50,000 from the YHA and an offer of £17,000 from the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority was secured. Applications to the Single Regeneration Budget, the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust and the European Objective 2 programme were unsuccessful.

Simon Ainley, YHA regional manager for Yorkshire and the Humber, said: "This is a sad day for both the YHA and the local community, but it is clear that we have exhausted all our avenues. We will now be asking our board of trustees to confirm its decision that the youth hostel be closed and sold at the end of this season."

The property will be sold on the open market.

Mr Ainley praised the efforts of organisations which tried to help save the hostel, including local authorities and the national park, but said funders could not be persuaded that redevelopment of the building offered value for money.

The YHA still hoped to maintain a presence in mid-Wensleydale and would look at locating to a new site. "There may be opportunities to develop a YHA Enterprise operation here with an existing accommodation provider," he said.

The closure announcement angered Coun John Blackie, who was at the forefront of the campaign to save the hostel.

He accused the YHA of committing no more than "pocket money" towards saving the hostel by redevelopment.

He feared the building would stand empty because strict national park planning policies would insist it was marketed for commercial purposes first before any conversion to housing could be considered.

It was outside the development boundary for Aysgarth and, as such, any change of use to housing could be limited to affordable homes for local people.

"There seemed to be no strategic approach to the hostel closures," said Coun Blackie. "The list of hostels was assembled by a firm in London and it is a great misfortune that Aysgarth was included in terms of property value."

"The YHA has shown a total lack of commitment to an Aysgarth community that has served it so loyally and well over the last 50 years," said Coun Blackie. "Local people have extended a warm Wensleydale welcome to YHA customers over this time, treating them as part of the extended Dales family, and their reward has been to figure on a list of closures, not assembled with any reasoned or justified strategy in mind, but simply based on the potential value the hostel sites may have as a property development opportunity."

The YHA has eight other hostels in the Yorkshire dales and hopes to establish new accommodation in Richmond and Grassington.

* Spectator's Notes: page 22