A TALKING newspaper in danger of falling silent is making a last bid for volunteers and listeners.

Rhuddlan Borough Talking Newspaper has acted as a vital service for the community since 1985.

The charity, which helps the blind, partially sighted and those who find reading a strain, is made up a volunteers who record local news onto audio formats.

Volunteers have now decided that the time has come to stop the service, unless a stronger need for the service is put forward; over the years listeners have dropped from 350 people to about 35.

Founding member Canon Clive Southerton said: “We are now desperately short of listeners. We’ve reached a crossroads.

“We use to do roving reports - we interviewed the pantomime cast at Rhyl Pavilion, I interviewed Margaret Thatcher in the Kinmel Manor and people such as Harry Secombe and Michael Heseltine.”

Tony England, who joined one year after Clive, said: “The drop in listeners has largely influenced our decision. We had more than 70 or 80 volunteers but that has even gone down to about 40. There is more volunteers than listeners.

“Technology has played a part in a decision too - people are getting their news elsewhere. We need more listeners otherwise, by the end of the year, we won’t continue.”

The group currently meet on Victoria Avenue in Prestatyn.

Clive added: “We were in a different building when we started. We’ve overcome a lot of hurdles.

"We moved over to Victoria Avenue, our new studio in 1989. We had a lottery grant which we used to convert an old bake house. The name of the original building was The Emporium.

"A lot of work goes on behind the scene so it is a pity if it finishes.

"Over the years we've gone from cassettes to memory sticks. We have been answering a need and I have enjoyed every moment of it. We have technicians, recorder, registers, copiers.

“If we do finish, after all these years, we will go out on a high. We will certainly have a party."

Anyone interested in the service and has a need for the service is asked to contact nest.bowl@btinternet.com

Those interested in volunteering can also contact the team using the above email address.