A STOCKTON rambling group has become a victim of its own success.

And much of it is due to regular slots in the D&S Times' What's On guide.

Since Stockton Rambling Club began putting details of walks in the paper, so many people have turned up some have had to be turned away.

"Publishing details has proved very successful, much to our embarrassment," said ramblers secretary John Carter. "We have been running full coaches every week and occasionally have not had enough room."

The club is now withdrawing its notices advertising its walks to ease the pressure.

Mr Carter said the club hires a coach for 50 to 59 people each Sunday.

"The number of people coming along has held up well over the past year. The figures normally dip in the summer but that has not happened.

"So we thought we should cool it for a while."

Mr Carter said when the club started using the events column, the walks were attracting 30 to 35 people a week.

"This was barely paying for the coach hire," he said.

"So we will not be advertising our walks for a while, but we will be monitoring the situation.

"In a way it's a nice problem to have. And the higher numbers also enable us to keep coach fares at a reasonable level."