MANAGERS of a social club were ousted by council chiefs amid fears they were allowing it to be used as a drinking den.

Basildon Council refused to renew Laindon West Community Association’s lease on its social club, in Hoover Drive, Laindon.

The council-owned centre’s bar area will now be stripped out. The decision followed complaints it was being run as a drinking club, instead of a community hall, with a bar as a sideline.

Minutes of a March meeting between the council, Debbie Fleming and John Scarola, new Labour councillor for Laindon Park, representing the association, reveal the decision was also taken due to debts to the council and other creditors.

The council says it was also not notified by the association of a change in management when Debbie Fleming, 40, from Marden Ash, Basildon, took over its day-to-day running last June.

The Department for Work and Pensions prosecuted her for failing to declare she was living with a partner while claiming benefits.

The council has since advertised for new groups to run the centre. It has reopened without a bar, so the Tick Tock pre-school continues.

Ms Fleming said she made one of the applications and hopes to run the centre again.

She said: “The council was concerned about how it had been run before we took over. It was not just a drinking club, there was the nursery, and we had youngsters coming in and playing pool.”

She said everyone in Laindon knew of her conviction and it should not stop her working. She said debts were due to previous club managers, and were gradually being paid off.

Former Laindon Park Tory councillor Frank Tomlin said police supported the decision to close the bar, after complaints from residents.