WELLINGTON and District Conservative Club, which has 650 members, will not re-open ‘this side of Christmas’.

That’s the view of its president Roger Lane who is also the club’s acting chairman following the resignation of Brian Smith.

“We have no plans to meet to discuss the situation at the moment,” said Mr Lane. “I think things are still very much the same. There is no way we will re-open this side of Christmas.”

It was Mr Smith who disclosed in early October that the club in High Street could close permanently if there was no significant improvement in revenue.

He said the impact of the Covid pandemic had been severe and the club was running at a significant loss.

In a letter to members he said: “We have taken the decision to write to all of our members to provide an update on our financial situation – this decision has not been taken lightly but the impact of the coronavirus epidemic has been very severe and we wanted you to understand what this means for your club.

“We are currently running at a significant loss. In order to protect the interests of all of our members and to ensure that the club can continue to stay open demand has to increase.”

However, the club remains closed, although Mr Lane has dismissed rumours it could close permanently. “We will open again when it is possible,” he said.

When the club does re-open it will be looking for more volunteers for small jobs in and around the premises. It also wants more members using the club on a regular basis.

One member told the WWN: “I am not sure what is happening. The club was not in a good place two months ago, so things would have got worse.”