A village bowls club with a history stretching back more than 70 years could close unless a new committee and new members can be found.For various reasons, including age and ill health, the committee of Necton Bowls Club have all retired from their posts in the past few weeks.

A village bowls club with a history stretching back more than 70 years could close unless a new committee and new members can be found.

For various reasons, including age and ill health, the committee of Necton Bowls Club have all retired from their posts in the past few weeks.

The decision has left the club, which is situated in a hedged off corner of the village playing field, without a guiding hand and with a dwindling membership.

Now committee members from Necton Rural Community Centre, which rents the land the club is on to the players, are appealing for a new generation of bowlers to come forward to breath new life into the club.

They say that if nobody comes forward the club house may have to be pulled down and the bowling green returned to being part of the playing field.

Bernard Bell, from the NRCC, said: 'If no parties are interested it will be necessary to dismantle the buildings and mothball the equipment and that would be dreadful.

'A lot of hours have gone into this club over the years and it would be a shame to see it go.'

But the centre committee is hopeful the club can be saved as an asset for the village.

Fellow NRCC committee member and keen bowls player Frank Bartholomew said he was confident the club could be revived.

He was chairman and grounds keeper of the bowls club for more than a decade and during his tenure he strengthened the membership and watched the club thrive.

He said: 'It is all here. It just needs someone to take over the reins.

'When I joined there were six members and just six pounds in the bank.

'It was going to close but my wife and I did some work over the winter and we got 23 members.

'We went on to get even more and we kept it running like that for years.

'Nobody ever comes up and asks 'can you teach me to play bowls?'. You have to go out and get people in.'

If you are interested in joining the bowls club as a committee member of simply to play bowls contact Bernard Bell on 01760 441228, Frank Bartholomew on 01760 723454 or Peter Boldero on 01760 723553.