FOUR friends who lost a legal battle to keep a York working men's club open now face a massive struggle to pay back £60,000 in legal costs.

The three trustees and club steward from the defunct Promenade Working Men's Club in St Benedict's Road have paid £29,000 in legal costs between them, and now have one month to pay the remaining £31,000.

The out-of-court settlement brings to an end a two-year legal wrangle between the trustees and property developer John Guildford.

The trustees and the developer teamed up in November 2002 to try to save the struggling social club.

The developer loaned the club's committee £100,000 to keep it afloat while he sought planning permission to demolish the property and build a new, smaller club, and 18 flats on the site.

But the partnership broke down when planning consent could only be obtained for a scaled-down scheme with ten flats. Club members rejected the plans because Mr Guildford said it would not be financially viable to provide accommodation for the club steward.

The club failed to repay the loan, so in December 2003 Mr Guildford exercised a clause in the contract which allowed him to buy the property for £200,000.

He submitted a new planning application to build 12 flats, but councillors rejected this in September last year against the advice of planning officers because they were concerned about the loss of a community facility.

Mr Guildford also issued possession proceedings last May, because club members should have vacated at the start of 2004, but had failed to do so.

In February this year the trustees agreed to pay Mr Guildford more than £5,000 in damages and his court costs.

Club trustee 67-year-old Alex McMahon told the Evening Press he had been left feeling "angry and bitter", but they would have to find the money from somewhere.

"This is a bitter pill to swallow. I worked at the carriageworks for 28 years and have worked hard for everything I have got. We all worked very hard to keep the club open and tried to keep all the members happy, but we have been the ones left holding the baby at the end of the day, and we just have to get on with things the best we can."

The other two trustees, Morris Bridge, 68 and Edward Greenall, 50, along with former steward 60-year-old John Driffield, have to find the remaining funds with Mr McMahon.

The club closed its doors on January 9 and it has since been demolished. Previously based in Vine Street, the club was more than 100 years old, and the 150 members had hoped to avoid becoming the latest in a long line of York social club closures.

Mr Guildford was unable to comment on the settlement. But a spokeswoman for his solicitors, Pinsent and Masons, confirmed that Mr Guildford and his wife, Sharon, had accepted £60,000, to be paid within the next month.

She said: "This agreement represents a settlement on the issue of costs, and once payment has been made, this matter will be at an end."

Updated: 09:08 Thursday, November 17, 2005