Social club members left devastated as council serves them with eviction notice following row over rent surge

Social club members have been left devasted as the council has served them with an eviction notice following a row over a rent surge.

Members of Spixworth Social Club in Crostwick Lane, Norfolk are fighting to save their community hub after being given just eight days to vacate the premises following a dispute over rent with the parish council.

The social club has been at the heart of the village for nearly 50 years and has around 600 members, but its future is now in serious doubt after Spixworth Parish Council issued an eviction notice giving the club until May 20 to leave.

It started when there was a dramatic increase in rent from £100 a year to £625 a month, following the expiry of the club's 10-year lease in July 2025.

Members say they have been operating without a signed agreement in place since then and negotiations with the parish council, which acts as trustee for the site, have broken down, the Eastern Daily Press.

The club was founded in 1976 and was due to celebrate its 50th anniversary this November.

Glen Rayner, 67, who has been a member for around 15 years, said the decision had left him devastated and furious in equal measure.

He said: "What the parish council is trying to do is all wrong. I feel angry at the trustees, let down. Eight days' notice is outrageous. The social club is meant for the community."

He added his wife had volunteered behind the bar for years and that the whole family had grown up using the club.

Bryan Edwards, 78, a committee member who has lived in Spixworth for 50 years, said the parish council had originally stepped in when the club was in financial difficulty but now appeared to be using that foothold to push the existing committee out.

He said: "They can't take over the club - we have worked so hard to build it up. We make about £12,000 a year and this goes back into the club. We put on a funday every year for people in the village."

Wendy Perry, 61, who has lived in the village for 45 years, said she was shocked by the handling of the situation and questioned why council tax revenue was not being better used to support local facilities.

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She said: "I had my wedding reception at the social club in 1985. My mother-in-law, who is 89, goes to the bingo. It's a community hub that should be protected."

The site also houses a café that has become a regular meeting point for many villagers, as well as a village hall that opened in 1972, four years before the social club was established.

Phyllis, a Spixworth resident of 56 years who meets friends at the café regularly, said the uncertainty hanging over the site was upsetting for the whole community.

She said: "The staff are amazing and the food is good. It's terrible the future of the site is uncertain."

Her friend Jackie added that many villagers depended on the various facilities at the site, including the bowls club which her husband had attended for years.

The news quickly spread on social media, with Mr Rayner noting it had "blown up overnight" as members rallied in opposition to the eviction.

It is understood the parish council took over the trusteeship of the village hall several years ago before later assuming responsibility for the social club as well, at a time when the club was said to be facing financial difficulties.

A spokesman for Spixworth Parish Council said the previous occupation licence had expired on July 4, 2025, and that the club had continued to use the premises without a signed agreement since then.

He said the council had taken legal advice before formally terminating the arrangement and would shortly be inviting expressions of interest from parties wishing to take on the future management and operation of the club.

The spokesman added: "The social club itself is not closing and we wish for the club to continue to operate as a welcoming, friendly and inclusive space for the whole community to enjoy."

Members, however, remain unconvinced and say they intend to fight the decision.

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