Bingo fans in Middlesbrough could be forced to look for a new place to enjoy their regular game as speculation mounts that a local community hall is to close permanently.
The Evening Gazette newspaper reports that the Grosmont Place centre in Eston regularly hosted bingo game play sessions until the owner of the building, Coast and Country Housing, announced that it would be closing the facility in order to have it surveyed.
A spokesman told the newspaper the decision was "taken for health and safety reasons" but some locals fear that it could spell the end of the facility.
Ellen Knight, the treasurer of the centre, explained: "Because other centres have closed and not been reopened, people are worried this will happen here too."
Although members may have to turn to online bingo games and other alternatives if the centre is permanently closed, regulars got to play bingotogether one last time before it shut its doors for the survey after a local councillor helped them win permission to stage the event.
Concerns over the future of bingo halls have previously been raised, with some industry analysts suggesting that the smoking ban coupled has damaged business.
