THE fate of a threatened community centre could be known within a fortnight.

Middleton St George's community centre is on the verge of being shut down because of a serious cash shortage.

Darlington Borough Council recently withdrew a £4,500 grant, which has left the local community association facing a financial crisis.

A meeting on Wednesday night was told that the future of the centre could rest with Middleton St George parish council, which is being urged to contribute more towards the running costs.

Community association chairman, Councillor Mike Latter, said the parish council meeting scheduled for October 14 would be crucial.

"We are waiting for them to either agree or not agree now, so it's fingers crossed," he said.

"I hope they can agree to it. We are down to about £1,500 in the account and if it does not happen, we'll have to spend that money on plywood and board the place up."

Potential sources of Lottery funding are being explored, but officials are not confident that such a project would be successful.