ELDERLY pigeon fanciers threatened by Barnsley Council with court action if they failed to tear down their lofts have given up their fight saying they are 'too old' to carry on.
The Barnsley Milers Club will race their birds for the final time this weekend bringing a chapter of Barnsley history to a sudden end.
The club has occupied a piece of land adjacent to the beer garden at the Bridge Inn in Burton Road, Monk Bretton for more than 16 years.But last month club members were sent a letter informing them to pull the dozen or so lofts down within 28 days or face prosecution.
Following a public outcry, the council said it was a standard letter sent out to anyone who is encroaching on council land without permission.
But Club Secretary Eric Pickersgill, 74, a retired miner from Chatsworth Road, Athersley South, said elderly club members were worried about the prospect of court action, and had decided to call it a day and take their lofts down.
He said: "At my age I don't need the worry of a possible court appearance and I can't get my head around planning applications and the like."And I know others in the club, some aged in their 80s, felt the same as I do, so we decided to call it a day."
** The full story is in the Barnsley Chronicle, dated October 10. **
