An Oxford social club that has entertained hundreds of elderly people for 35 years has been forced to close through lack of funding and support.

Oxford Pensioners' Club, in Gloucester Green, closed after its organisers failed to secure enough money and helpers to keep it going for another year.

Former Lord Mayor of Oxford, Fred Ingram, and wife Liz, who ran the club for 31 years, tried in vain to raise £40,000 and attract six part-time workers.

Mr Ingram, 91, said: "It's got more and more expensive, and we just haven't had the support we needed.

"I've done all I can to try to keep it open, but the time's come to throw in the towel. My wife and I have loved it, but we've been having to do almost everything by ourselves and it's got too much.

"I've written to hundreds of people asking for donations, but have had hardly any replies.

"We've advertised for workers but we can't afford to pay much and no-one wants to work with elderly people for nothing.

"I'm devastated, but we've got no option."

The couple were honoured for their work at last year's FOX FM Local Heroes awards, co-sponsored by the Oxford Mail.

They were nominated by club members who said they deserved a medal for their tireless efforts.

The six-day-a-week club was once the biggest in Oxford for elderly people, with more than 1,000 members. Numbers began to fall in the late 1980s. In the past two years membership dropped from 450 to 150.

Mr Ingram, of Saunders Road, Oxford, said: "We've lost the money that people used to spend on meals and have been left to scrape by. We needed to make £100 a day to keep things ticking over, but it just wasn't happening."

The club's members were told of the closure earlier this week.

George Bateman, 84, of St Ebbe's, Oxford, who has been a member since Mr Ingram took it over, said: "It's such a shame and it's all the more sad because it's just before Christmas when we were looking forward to our dinner and party.

"Fred and Liz are second to none. They've worked so hard over the years, but it seems that people just aren't interested in this sort of thing any more."

The club was well known for holding Christmas parties for up to 300 pensioners, but this year's event was cancelled because there was no-one to help organise it.

Although the pensioners' club has closed permanently, Mr Ingram said he was considering starting another club elsewhere in the city.

He added: "The elderly people of Oxford still need somewhere to go and socialise and I don't want to just give up on them.

"I'm not saying much at the moment, but this might not be the last people see of me."

Oxford City Council, which gave the club grants of up to £6,000 a year, said it was exploring ways of supporting the Ingrams so they could carry on their work.

Health promotion officer Maggie Dent said: "This has been an invaluable service for older people in Oxford and we are in discussions with the club to see if there are ways the council can continue to provide support."

The club leased the building from Oxford City Council.

The council has not yet decided what to with it.