A BINGO club is a accident waiting to happen say pensioners who have to climb two flights of stairs when they want to play the game.

And now the concerned group have gathered over 200 signatures from club members who say that Needhams Bingo Club in Desborough Road, High Wycombe, should be moved to new premises or altered before someone has a fall.

Bingo player Elizabeth Camley, 60, from Booker Hill Road, High Wycombe, and her friends from the club are worried about their safety and the club's future after numbers have plummeted over the past few years.

They believe that the difficulty in climbing up so many stairs is the reason for the dwindling numbers.

Mrs Camley said: "There is so much money being put into new trendy bars for all the young people but what happens when you get to our age? For many of us it's one of our very few pleasures and the facilities we are having to meet in are horrendous.

She added that falling numbers mean the club now only opens four evenings a week compared to seven days a week a few years ago.

Manager Peter Shaw, says he sympathises with the pensioners and appreciates that some members may have difficulty climbing the stairs but believes there are other reasons for the club's decline.

He said: "As a smaller club it is still difficult to compete with the super clubs who offer huge cash prizes and as our money has dropped over the past few years bingo fans tend to travel there."

"As far as alternative premises I know Jack Needham, the owner, has been looking into it but it's a question of availability. It has certainly not been ruled out."

A spokesman for Wycombe District Council said there are currently no regulations about conditions in such clubs until the introduction of the Disability Discrimination Act 2004.

"Once the Act is in place concerns about access to all goods and services will be covered but until then the council has no power to enforce any rules on the club's facilities," he added.