A FINAL call has gone out to residents in a Teesside town to back a local forum or see it wound up.

Thornaby Community Forum (TCF) was set up about five years ago to give residents a platform to voice their concerns.

In recent months, however, the numbers attending the forum have dwindled, with only 12 people turning up for the last meeting.

Now an open letter has been published by the newly-elected committee of the TCF, calling on residents to show support for the forum or lose it.

TCF secretary Des Robinson, who helped draft the open letter, said: "As a community group, the TCF is dying on its feet. We face two courses of action: either we revive it, or we wind the organisation up properly and bury it with a bit of dignity."

The TCF was set up by a local charity, Five Lamps Organisation and it has worked as an action group on local issues.

Thornaby Independent Councillor Steve Walmsley said, however, that in recent years the forum had become dominated by politicians.

He said: "The fact is that it had become overrun with political people using it as a mouthpiece to push their own agenda."

The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 1, at 10.30am at Thornaby Pavilion, near the town centre, though organisers said times could be altered to ensure maximum attendance.