He said it had become increasingly difficult to attract adult helpers because of new security vetting rules.

The number of youngsters using the club had dropped from over 300 to less than a tenth of that number, he lamented, because “kids now would rather sit at their computers than be out playing with their pals”.

Mr Robertson started the club in 1979 when his own children were pupils at Barnhill.

“It’s sad that we’ve had to close the club, but we had no other option,” he said today.

“We needed to get more people to run it, but when we explained what was involved they said ‘no chance’.

“There are these new rules from Disclosures Scotland which are meant to ensure that adults will safely look after children. Fair enough, but we’ve run the club for over 25 years with parents as helpers and have never had any problems.

“Now people who work with children have to fill in forms which I think ask for a ridiculous amount of information. What’s the point of asking someone who wants to help run a youth club to state their mother’s maiden name?

“These forms seem to take weeks and weeks to process, and people who have nothing to hide just don’t want all that bother. The situation’s so bad that one night, when we knew we would be one helper short, we asked another youth club if they could lend us one of theirs for the night. It turned out that they couldn’t because that person had clearance to be at only that club.

“The amount of red tape now is ridiculous. The community education department pulled us up for not being educational enough. We had to say that we were only trying to give the kids a safe place to play.

“We were also made to keep a log book. If there were three girls sitting in a room drawing, someone had to write in a book that they were drawing. What’s the point in that?”

Mr Robertson admitted another factor in the club’s demise was the demand by today’s children for pursuits that are more sophisticated — but less healthy — than playing table tennis or skittles.

“Now all kids seem to want to do with their spare time is sit in front of a computer screen, and I think that’s sad,” he said.

“They’re not meeting and inter-acting with other children, they’re not being active and they don’t seem interested in the simple fun of playing games.

“I started this club because at the time there was nothing for young people here to do with their spare time. I arranged the use of the school, put word round and the first night we had over 300 kids queueing up to get in.

“At some Friday nights recently, the number has been barely into double figures.”

At its last night on Friday, the club donated the balance of its funds — over £200 — to Rachel House, the hospice for children with cancer. Mr Robertson thought it fitting that money from children should go to children.

He added that he could not wind up the club without thanking all the adults who have helped over the years and thanking Barnhill’s headteacher Bruce Johnston for the assistance he gave to the venture.