A popular Wallingford social club has closed after 40 years.

The 600 members of the ABM Club will have to find new premises after being asked to leave.

The centre forms part of the former Pauls Malt plant in St John's Road, and the firm has asked them to leave this week so it can develop the site for housing.

The ABM Club - once called the Associated British Maltsters catered for employees of the works, which ceased production in December.

Some members will continue to meet at the Wallingford Sports Park, but they are unhappy at the loss of their skittle alley, the club's greatest attraction.

They are incensed that while they have been moved, the Cholsey and Wallingford Railway can stay on the site.

A TOWN has marked the end of an era following the closure of a much-loved social club.

The ABM Club in Wallingford has been a feature of life in the town for almost 40 years. But despite a hard-fought campaign to save it, the club has finally been forced to close.

Members of the St John's Road club met for the last time on Friday evening for a farewell gathering.

The site is now set to be redeveloped as a housing complex by Linden Homes, leaving the club homeless.

The club has around 600 members - roughly the equivalent of ten per cent of the population of Wallingford - and members are furious that their needs have been ignored.

The former chairman Mr Reg Dolton, from Saxon Close, Wallingford, said: "We have been told we have got to get out. It is very unfair. We have been here for many years. We have more members that the railway society and have been here for longer - but they are taking over.

"It is absolutely disgraceful. It seems everyone is bending over backwards to accommodate the railway but we are being ignored. No one wants to help us."

Fellow member Mr Peter Abery - who has been a member for 37 years - said: "We cannot believe we have been ignored. A club with a membership this large should be part of future plans. It is great that the railway has been saved but what about our members? It is sad to be leaving the site. I think it is appalling. We are a part of Wallingford life and have members from every section of the community. The council should have stepped in and talked to the developers to try and help us."

Around 85 per cent of the members are keen skittle players and the club cannot afford the 85,000 needed to build another facility. They have no plans to use other local alleys.

South Oxfordshire District Councillor Ms Jo Clyde, who is the chairman of the Cholsey and Wallingford Railway Preservation Society said: "It is sad that the club is closing. There could have been a very useful opportunity for us to share facilities and we would have liked to have worked with them in the future. This is however out of our hands."

The maltings manager Mr Tim Hyland said: "The sale of the site has gone through and we are looking at handing over the keys this month . But one of the conditions of the sale is vacant possession. At the end of the day it is all expensive land and if you can put houses on it, it makes it more profitable."