Portchester Community Centre is in such bad state that it would cost £750,000 to repair.

It also poses health and safety risks with no adequate fire escapes on the first floor, high levels of asbestos in the building materials and poor electrical installation.

Fareham Borough Council officers are recommending that the first floor of the building be closed with immediate effect and the rest of the building be closed in 2011, prior to it being flattened.

Councillors will decide the fate of the popular centre at a meeting of the ruling executive on Monday.

Portchester Community Association leases the centre from the council.

Manager Sarah Foss said: 'I'm very shocked by the news, obviously. But the people of Portchester will fight.

'This is a very popular community centre.

'We have 3,500 people use it on average every week, and 70 per cent of our income comes from the classes and sessions that take place on the first floor. So if that closes, that could be quite worrying.

'We do, however, understand that the building is old and needs work doing and it would to be very expensive to do this.'

If the centre is demolished there are currently no firm plans how, or even if, it would be replaced.

But the five Portchester ward councillors have vowed to ensure a new centre is built.

Councillor Nick Walker said: 'The centre is in very, very poor condition. There's a raft of things that are wrong with the building and it's reaching the end of its usable life.

'The Portchester councillors are agreed that it needs to be knocked down but it cannot just disappear, it must be replaced.

'There are obviously ramifications to closing the first floor, however. A lot of groups use that and so we would need to look at how those users could be accommodated – possibly by the use of temporary cabins.

'It's a huge problem, though. There's risk of loss of revenue and loss of users, but we must protect the public's safety. That is paramount.'