Members of Hillingdon's Battle of Britain Club, a tiny remnant of the decommissioned RAF Uxbridge, held a sit-in protest yesterday (Thursday, July 19) as they expected bailiffs to turn up to evict them from the building.

However, they were left bemused when none arrived.

Staff at RAF Association (RAFA) headquarters in Leicester gave club members a final deadline of 5pm yesterday to remove their equipment and belongings from the club in Hillingdon Road, Uxbridge so they could hand it back to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), who own the site.

RAFA says the club is no longer viable as it has outstanding debts of at least £150,000 including rent arrears of £130,000 that have not been paid since 2004.

It says the former club members will be held personally liable for these costs and that they now have no right to be in the building.

Protesters outside the club

However, club members claim the lease was never renewed after it expired in 2002 and that nobody ever invoiced the club for payment until it was lumped with a bill earlier this year.

Club chair Alan Wright said the fact no RAFA representative came to reclaim the club yesterday meant it could have been left unsecured had club members not locked it up.

Danny Forbes, 52, who lives in a bungalow next to the club with his wife and two children, has been told to leave his home of 26 years by September 30.

He says he inherited the post of club manager from his parents and that his family's house was linked to the job.

He said yesterday: "We're really just waiting on somebody coming along and saying that's the end of it, but it's not right.

"It's a shambles. I love the club to pieces I really do. We've put our heart and soul into this place and now it's all over."

Danny Forbes does not know what he and his family are going to do

Danny has no idea what he and his family will do next.

Club committee chairman Alan Wright admits there have been faults on both sides regarding the administration of the club, but says he has tried to come to a workable settlement with RAFA so the club can stay open.

He has now formed a limited company to run the businesses and is vowing to keep it going.

The official RAFA Uxbridge branch has left the club and is now meeting elsewhere leaving the remaining members of the Battle of Britain Club fighting to save it.

Teacher Sarah Newton, 41, says she has grown up with the club.

"I started coming here 30 years ago with my grandad," she said.

"I used to join the quiz teams and ever since then I've come here for the friendship and camaraderie. You can come here and know there's going to be someone you can talk to and have a quiet drink with and not feel intimidated.

"I don't feel they are giving us an opportunity to come up with a solution. We will do anything to try to save the club."

Sarah Newton says she has grown up with the club as a key part of her life

Club members say they hold fun days, stage darts and pool nights, and rent the venue out to outside groups for parties and events.

Another club member known as Badger, who lived in accommodation near the club when his father served in the RAF, and who has attended the club for most of his life, said: "I'm very, very disappointed. The association claims to be a family related association where members are part of a family but they just want to close this place down."

RAFA says it has no choice but to hand the club back to the MoD.

It issued a statement yesterday, saying: "We can confirm that the Royal Air Forces Association intends to surrender the lease for the Battle of Britain Club to the property owner, the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), and the club was closed on June 30, 2018.

"The RAF Association is as disappointed as the Battle of Britain Club’s former members that this decision has been necessary. However, it comes as a direct result of the club’s inability to cover substantial financial debts and to maintain the buildings on the site.

"Since being first made aware of the significant debt owed by the branch club regarding the non-payment of the rent since 2004 - circa £130,000 - we have continually attempted to explain to the club committee that they as individuals are personally liable for the liabilities of the club whilst they were in charge. In total, these financial liabilities are in the order of £150,000.

"The branch club was not making any money from its activities and was unable to meet its ongoing responsibilities, its past liabilities nor the cost of the required refurbishment of the buildings, which would have been in the region of £250,000.

"Unfortunately, the branch club committee was unable to demonstrate that it had the financial resources to cover these liabilities, for which they are personally accountable.

"The RAF Association has attempted to work with the branch club committee to reduce the scale of their debts. £130,000 is for rent arrears owed to the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), which have accumulated since 2004.

"The RAF Association officially closed the club on June 30, 2018. We notified the branch club committee that they had no permission to enter the premises past this date.

"We have given club committee members a very reasonable period of 19 days to remove any personal possessions from the premises.

"The former chairman was reminded of this fact on July 11, 2018 and on July 18, as a matter of good order, we wrote advising the former branch club committee to vacate the premises by 5pm on July 19 to ensure there was no misunderstanding.

"The RAF Association would like to clarify that it closed the club in accordance with the internal procedures of the RAF Association which bind all RAF Association branches and clubs, that the club has ceased to exist and that no former member of the club committee or any other individual has any authority to occupy the premises without the express authority of the RAF Association.

The club has been open for 71 years

"We completely understand that former members of the branch club will be unhappy about its closure. However, we believe these people may not have been fully informed of the circumstances leading to this closure."

The club, which consists of two prefabricated Nissen huts, has been open for 71 years and lies near to the the Battle of Britain bunker from where the epic battle was marshalled.

It served RAF Uxbridge service personnel and was the home of the Uxbridge branch of the RAF Association.

Labour councillors recently made an appeal to Hillingdon Council to step in and save the club to protect part of the borough's RAF heritage, but council leader Ray Puddifoot said the council could not get involved in internal matters between the club and RAFA.