CARMARTHEN's Gremlin Club is in crisis and will close within a month unless it gets more cash to keep it alive.

The county branch of the Royal Air Force Association (Rafa) is based at the club in Guildhall Square and is facing the fact it may soon have nowhere to meet.

Club secretary Des Arundel said the future was bleak.

"I am appealing for people to use the club. We need to get money spent behind the bar and people investing in the club.

"If we don't see things improve, then I am giving the place a few weeks before it will close — no more than a month."

The club is open to RAF ex-servicemen and non-members but an aging membership has seen a decline in the association and the Gremlin club's use.

Mr Arundel has been at the club since 1954 and secretary since 1991 after the club was rebuilt following a fire.

He said: "Every effort has been made over the years to help the club's financial position by holding functions and a luncheon club had been held but that folded last week.

"That is a loss of revenue for the club and we are in trouble, not as a Rafa association but the building itself.

"If it closes then the Rafa will of course have nowhere to meet."

Even though the Carmarthen Rafa branch has more than 100 listed members and more than 250 honorary members, Mr Arundel said there was normally no more than 30 people attending events held at the venue.

He said: "We have no new members joining and we have lost the older ones.

"Having numbers on the books is one thing, it is getting people through the door that is the problem and I feel the history of the place will be lost if I have to close it."

In November last year, two members of the club who had been banned by Mr Arundel after a disagreement over the running of the venue, called for an extraordinary meeting to look at the state of the club's finances and membership crisis.

However, Mr Arundel refused to acknowledge their concerns over the club's future and dismissed the pair's efforts.

Looking at the situation now facing the 65-year-old club, Mr Arundel said: "We want any ex-servicemen to join and support the club or anyone with a link to the RAF or members of the public with a passion for the Gremlin Club.

"We don't want to lose the club but at the moment there is a big problem on our hands and we need the town's help to save it."

The county Rafa club was formed in 1947 and first met at the former Red Lion court at the rear of where BHS now stands.

It then moved to the Gremlin Club in the mid-1950s and further development on the building took place in 1977.

Historically the building has links with the Rebecca Riots.

It was once known as the Talbot Inn and in 1843 was the meeting place for talks about the resiting of toll gates under the main Turnpike Trust.

These toll gates were a source of hatred among the farming community, with this hatred later leading to the Rebecca Riots.

Anyone wishing to help the club should call Mr Arundel on 01267 241232.