A WOMEN'S Institute, which is joint oldest in the county, has been suspended in its 86th year.

Cotherstone WI was formed on March 14 1916, as was the one at Witton le Wear. But with current membership down to eight those remaining, most of whom are pensioners, could not fill the positions of officers and were having difficulty recruiting new members, leaving them unable to carry on.

But it seems every cloud has a silver lining. Former Cotherstone member Mrs Elsie High, although agreeing the closure was sad, said four of the members had now joined the WI at nearby Boldron, swelling their numbers to a healthy 18.

"I attended my first meeting there on Tuesday, with two of our former members, and we had a lovely night and were made very welcome," she said.

The suspension was confirmed by county office, whose spokeswoman said it was sad to see the closure when the WI as a whole was a vibrant, forward thinking organisation.

Last November Gainford was threatened with closure when a new committee could not be found. It now appears to be thriving again after intervention by the county adviser Audrey Flannagan.

But the county office spokeswoman said the Cotherstone suspension appeared to be permanent