A cash-strapped community centre, which is the hub of social life for young people in Shelf, could be forced to close at the end of the month.

The committee of Wade House Youth and Community Centre needs to raise £30,000 to repair the building and bring it up to safety standards.

Junior and senior discos regularly attract more than 200 youngsters to the centre which also holds a youth club, karate group and toddlers group.

Fred Bell, chairman of the committee, said they had raised £5,000 but a small village could not manage the rest.

"We are all very sad but there is nothing more we can do about it," Mr Bell said, "I have two young children who go to the disco and the youth clubs and it will leave a hole in the community."

The building was converted from a former Methodist Chapel in 1979 but the scale of the building's needs was realised when slate from the roof was stolen, making it unstable.

Eric Powell, 73, an active trustee of the centre, appealed for parents to rally round at the 11th hour and help them through the crisis. "Help from adults and parents in Shelf could keep it going and I have no doubt if there was a bigger community effort, we would not be talking about closure. If we had a bigger committee we could apply for lottery funding. I would be gutted if it closed."

Margaret McCullough, who set up the discos five years ago, said it would leave the children with nowhere to go.

"The children are aged between eight and 14 and it is wonderful to see them coming in, excited about being dressed up. There is nowhere else in Shelf as the village hall is owned by the local authority and costs too much to hire out.

"It will be a shame if it goes because we have worked hard with the disco and the youth club and it stops a lot of older ones hitting Shelf park and drinking or breaking telephone boxes."

Calderdale Borough Councillor Bill Carpenter (Cons: Northowram & Shelf) said: "If somebody gets in touch with me, I can go to the Council to ask about funding."