Placard-waving campaigners gathered outside a deaf charity in protest amid fears that it may close.

Around 40 users of Action Deafness in Welford Road, Leicester, attended the protest meeting last night.

It comes following the closure of the charity's Loughborough base, a former chapel, because it could not afford to carry out £300,000 of vital repairs.

In the year ending March 2009, the charity spent £821,044 – £178,111 more than its income for the 12-month period.

The charity's board of trustees says it has yet to make a decision about the future of the building in Welford Road.

Campaigners last night said they attended a meeting on Saturday but were not given any information about its future.

Pam England, of Brailsford Road, Wigston, is hard of hearing. The 74-year-old said: "We are all very worried that the centre is going to close.

"We have been trying to get answers to questions but no-one will tell us anything.

"The centre in Loughborough has closed and we think the centre in Welford Road is going to go the same way.

"There was a meeting on Saturday but even then no-one was prepared to tell us what was happening. Lots of people just walked out of the meeting."

There are around 189,000 deaf, hard of hearing, deafened and deafblind adults and at least 800 hearing impaired children living in Leicestershire.

Eva Winterton, who lives in Thurnby, is also hard of hearing. The 77-year-old said: "No-one has given us any information about what is happening.

"We are worried that the charity will soon no longer exist."

A spokesman for Action Deafness said: "The board of trustees has yet to make a decision about the future of the building on Welford Road."

He said the charity could "categorically state" that it has not given notice to move out to any groups using the building.