A lunch club which provides a lifeline for elderly people has warned it will close unless it can find more volunteers.

The club offers elderly residents from the Bingley area hot meals every Thursday at Little House, Market Street, in Bingley.

But Bingley Voluntary Action (BVA), which runs the club, was forced to postpone the club several weeks ago after losing three of its long-serving volunteers.

And last week, staff from BVA gave up their own lunch breaks to volunteer to avoid disappointing clients.

BVA deputy chief officer Glen Miller said: "If we do not find more volunteers we will have to shut it down. That means 20 elderly, socially excluded people will not be able to go out."

The club has been running for more than 20 years and has been staffed by several generations of volunteers.

"The people who come to the lunch club get a good nutritious meal but they also sit and talk and have a laugh," said Mr Miller.

"We had to cancel it two weeks ago because we only had two volunteers so we were not allowed to run it on health and safety grounds.

"We had people calling us up saying they were missing it. It's such a lifeline to them."

Several of the club's clients are in their nineties.

Geoffrey Roberts has volunteered at the lunch club for more than ten years.

The retired researcher in the wool industry said: "The Little House we are in now was presented by the Bingley Round Table in 1969 and we have been through thick and thin since then.

"Most of the volunteers who are here now have been here for 20 years. We are desperately short of volunteers.

"The people who come here really do look forward to this little outing, to meet people and have a lunch. It's so important to keep it going."

Mary Newton, who is in her eighties, has enjoyed the lunch club for several years.

"It's very nice," said Miss Newton, of Bingley. "It used to be every day but now it is once a week. People would certainly miss it because it's a meeting place and a meal at least once a week. It would be sad if it had to close."

Volunteers are asked to offer a couple of hours every Thursday between 9am and 2pm to serve meals and wash dishes.

Anyone who can help is asked to call Bingley Voluntary Action on (01274)781222.

e-mail: fiona.evans@bradford.newsquest.co.uk