Sports men and women will suffer when Basildon Sports Council's licensed club is shut down, angry members said.

Basildon Council is not renewing the lease on club and is choosing to use the money to set up a Sports Development Fund instead.

The club, which has more than 400 members and is based in Murrayfield Pavilion, Gloucester Park, would have to vacate by February.

Member Tony Smith, 54, of Markhams Chase, said: "We are really disgusted. We have been running for 30 years and now they want to close us.

But Basildon Council's Tory administration argued that the decision was for the benefit of sports enthusiasts.

Anthony Hedley, Basildon Council's cabinet member for leisure and open spaces, said: "We felt the money going to sports men and women needed to be ringfenced, so we have agreed to provide a minimum of £10,000 a year for the Sports Development Fund.

"That is more than the Sports Council has raised over the last three years. "This money will also be available to anyone, while before it was only available to groups affiliated with the Sports Council.

"It took 18 months to two years to reach a decision, but the club seems to have run its course. It is a very sad decision."