DID you know Mecca Bingo is 50 years old this year? Everything moves with the times, not least the game they used to call Housey-Housey.

When I first went to the Mecca all those years ago, I was the youngest person there by a mile.

It was mainly housewives in pinafores with curlers in their hair (yes, really) having a couple of hours freedom while the old man was in the pub or club – bingo was then and is now the only place a woman feels confident going on her own.

The caller stood on the stage pulling numbered balls out of a bag – 1-75 it was then, 1-90 now, what a difference 50 years on.

Now it’s all computerised and very high tech, the hall is beautifully decorated and furnished, and on any night the under-40s outnumber the “oldies” and as many men go now as women.

Last Saturday, I went to the Bilston Club for the final of “Mecca’s Got Talent”. What a night, hosted by ITV’s Lorraine Kelly.

The ten finalists, all youngsters, were good enough for the X Factor. The winner was a young lad of 19 with a terrific voice, called Ashley Mallon, who won £5,000 and a year’s contract with an entertainment agency.

Bingo has always been known as an old-fashioned, old people’s game – nothing of the sort, lots of university students go, especially on the cheap nights during the week.

They’ve even had hen parties at the York Mecca.

So for all you doubters out there who have never been to a bingo hall, I say, don’t knock it please until you've tried it.

Cynthia Glasby, Southfields Road, Strensall, York.