A SOCIAL club for ex-service personnel in Darlington is to close in its 50th anniversary year.

The Royal Air Force Association premises in Duke Street will serve its last pint on October 31.

The RAFA branch took the tough decision on Tuesday as falling membership and rising costs mean the club risked struggling financially.

Coun Eric Roberts, a long-standing member, said numbers nationally had dwindled as members grew older and were increasingly unable to attend.

The Darlington branch, which employs a resident steward, had also seen repair and maintenance costs and utility bills rise.

"We are not in debt, but we felt the responsible thing to do was to close down while we were still viable," he said. "It is very, very sad indeed. There are a lot of people who don't go out anywhere else and it is sad for them because they have supported the club through thick and thin."

The building, bought by the association in 1958, will be offered for sale.

The branch will look for another venue for its meetings and welfare work will continue.

The Darlington branch was formed in 1946 for former RAF personnel to foster friendship and provide welfare. In 1951, members bought a club at the Astoria building in High Northgate before moving to what had been a gentlemen's club in Duke Street seven years later.

"Volunteers spent a lot of their own time bringing the place up to scratch," said Coun Roberts, who served with the RAF on national service.

At its height, the club had more than 500 members but this had dwindled to fewer than 300, many of whom were unable to attend regularly.