LONG-TIME members of an over -fifties club have been left “disgusted” after they were told their membership had stopped.

Letters were sent to two members of the over fifties club at Long Meadow Community Centre, Dovercourt, after they had not been attending due to ill health and looking after relatives.

Both said they had told the club why they were not attending but the club said it did not receive notification.

Member Brenda Howard, 76, said: “I’m disgusted. At first, I was just sad but now I am fuming.

“I fell at the end of November and did my hip in and have been housebound. I had been looking forward to going back to the club at the end of February but now I can’t. It’s a lifeline for me.”

Mrs Howard, of Dovercourt, has been going to the club for 13 years and said she had continued to pay for membership even though she had not been attending. The club said it had not received anything since December.

She said: “I can’t understand it because we have been paying £1 a week.

“Not once were we ever told if we didn’t go we could be kicked out and they knew I had had a nasty fall and was recovering.

“They didn’t even bother to ring me to find out how I am. They just sent a letter saying I wasn’t welcome back.” John Thurlow, chairman of the Harwich and District Community Association, which runs the club, denied Mrs Howard had told them why she was not attending.

However, he said there was nothing to stop her reapplying for membership when she was better.

He said: “If people don’t appear at the club and don’t give a reason why I’m afraid we assume they won’t be returning. I’m not a mind reader.

“If she gets better than she can apply to rejoin. But it has always been made abundantly clear what will happen if people don’t come.”