COMMITTEE members at Darwen's oldest Conservative club today voted over their future, despite a "black hole" in the accounts.

Both the chairman and president of Bolton Road Conservative Club vowed it would not close although they face a cash crisis over a £7,500 VAT bill.

Chairman Harry Birkner spoke out as anxious members waited for news.

Mr Birkner said the financial situation had provided a much needed 'wake-up call'.

He said: "There have been two crisis meetings in as many weeks we know that the VAT bill has left us with a big hole in finances after a very disappointing summer.

"But the picture is not as bleak as it has been painted and it's certainly not as bad as a number of clubs in the county.

"A windfall of a few grand would be very welcome, but now that we are all aware of the problem we are taking steps to sort everything out."

Last summer the club was down around £10,000 in beer sales, compared to the previous year, making it hard to recoup the £1,500-a-week running costs.

President of the 130 member club, John Creek, said the loss was due to people's changing habits.

He said: "A lot of people stay at home or have a lot of other things to do with their time. Clubs, apart from a handful, are struggling."

Mr Birkner added: "The position at the club is very simple. Our day-to-day running costs are being met after the summer. Not by a lot, I must admit, but we are actively looking at ways to promote the club to bring in more members and revenue.

"We have an isolated situation of a VAT bill which goes back two years. After the immediate shock it has served as a wake-up call to us. It came out of the blue but we are now in touch with customs and excise, who are working with us to sort out are immediate problem."

A legal team is helping the club. Mr Birkner said: "I must stress we have no problem making our payments to Scottish and Newcastle brewers. We are very prompt with our payments.

"At any time a club will owe a couple of thousand pounds, for all sorts of reasons, and for us it's not a big problem. Members will pull together and we are all very positive about the future."