THE concert secretary of West Sutton Labour Club has moved to quash speculation that the popular venue is on the verge of closure and said it is very much business as usual.

Eric Welding, who was previously secretary at Parr Labour Club for more than 20 years, said that the rumours are getting out of hand. To those who believe it has shut down he said: "Come back and support the club."

"We are already making plans for the future and looking forward.

"There are too many clubs closing in general," he said.

A notice was issued stating that the club was currently in the hands of the receivers, leading people to assume that it was about to shut its doors for good.

According to Eric, this was done on the advice of the brewery Tetley's, as it was the only way to keep the club open.

"They agreed for it to go into receivership. It has to, by law."

"We've got people going round the town saying that it's shut.

"But we have regular acts and a regular bingo night. We just want to stop the rumour mongering."