A fundraiser that has raised more than £700 for charities has had to give up his bingo evenings after vandals had gone around daubing “bingo closed” on his posters and ripping others down altogether.

David Turton, 64, has raised more than £700 for charities including the Air Ambulance and Royal British Legion with regular bingo nights at the Ashperton Village Hall.

Mr Turton has decided enough is enough and has pulled the plug on the fortnightly bingo events after only 19 people turned up to the last session on Wednesday 21st September. The host claims that normally there would be nearly 50 people attending the events and as a result of poor show he has had to pay more than £600 of his own money to support the evenings.

He claims that someone has deliberately set out to sabotage his efforts through the acts of vandalism.

“I’m absolutely disgusted by what has happened,” he added. “It’s left me out of pocket and it means there will be no more money to benefit the charities. I was left with no choice. I’m a carer for my wife and we only have our benefits allowance to live on, so I just cannot afford to keep losing money like this.”

He added: “It’s a real shame. Everyone who has come along has always had a good evening and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.”

Mr Turton now plans to sell his bingo machine and equipment on ebay to try and recoup some of the money he has lost.