Villagers raised more than £6,000 in just three days to bail out the crisis-hit Flimby Social Club.

The club called an emergency meeting last Thursday night when it had only 12 hours to pay off half of a £9,000 electricity bill.

Within 12 hours £3,000 had been raised, including £840 at the meeting – enough for British Gas to keep the electricity on.

The club is at least £42,000 in debt. A new 11-strong committee has been set up to save the club.

It successfully negotiated with British Gas to pay a smaller than first requested amount to begin with, with a payment plan being set up to cover the remaining money.

Committee member Nicola Underwood said: “If there’s a word better than amazing, then the support of the village has been that.

“We certainly feel a lot more positive now than we did on Thursday night.”

But the committee still needs support from the village to turn its fortunes around.

Among its outstanding debts are £15,000 owed to HMRC, which includes VAT and PAYE payments.

It also owes £6,300 for gaming machines and a jukebox.

Secretary Brett Smith said until accountant Lee Dixon had finished going through the books, the new committee had no real idea of how much was owed.

They are waiting to be given access to the club accounts by the bank, because the only signatory left the club before Christmas.

Mrs Underwood said: “Considering it’s a members’ club the support we have received hasn’t just been from the members, it’s been from the village as a whole.

“There’s a very long way to go. We still need money. Really, importantly, we want people to use the club for events and things like that.

“It isn’t going to be easy. If the club didn’t have the debt it would run nicely.

“Flimby used to have five pubs. It’s the only community venue in the village now and it’s really important that we keep the club going.”

Around 160 people attended the meeting last Thursday, including club members, members of the local rugby club and villagers who did not belong to th social club but were showing their support.

Alan Saunders, from the Flimby Allotment Committee, said he would be asking members for a donation.

Various fundraising suggestions were raised, including a past and present players rugby match, a door-to-door canvas and more.

Any long-term plans will be put on hold in the meantime until the true extent of the club’s debts are known.

The club was threatened with closure in 2010 because of financial problems.

Mr Smith said it was actually at least £4,000 worse off now than it was then.

An annual general meeting will be held as soon asthe accountant is finished with the books.

Then the full extent of debt will be known and the committee can start looking at ways repay it.

Meanwhile British Gas has said it would continue to work with the club.

Spokeswoman Catrin Millar said:

“We’re pleased to have agreed a new payment plan with Mr Smith for the club’s electricity usage.

I’d encourage any business struggling to pay their bills to contact us to see how we can help”.