Members are fighting to safeguard the future of Witham Constitutional Club after it was put on the market.

The Collingwood Road club has been listed for £350,000, plus VAT, and a planning application has already been put in to change it a nursery.

Witham Town Council are due to discuss the application on Monday which is asking for a change of use from assembly and leisure to non-residential use.

Club treasurer Cliff Bright, who desribed the planning application as premature, said: “The club is not closed at this moment in time and won’t be for some time.

“We are trying to find alternative accomodation which is very difficult in this location [Witham town centre].

“We want to try and stay in Witham, we have got a lot of quite elderly members who don’t want to travel too far.

“No formal decision has been made yet.”

The Edwardian property includes a two bedroom flat, cellar, kitchen and two bar areas.