The ancient art of morris dancing, handed down through generations and now performed in pub car parks and shopping centres, could be extinct within two decades because the latest generation is too embarrassed to take part.

The Morris Ring, one of the guardians of morris in Britain, representing more than 200 troupes across the country, gave warning this morning that dance troupes were getting older and numbers were dwindling.

Unless young people can be inspired to join up with their local “side”, to dress in white shirts, coloured ribbons and bells and boots, and to dance in celebration of long-remembered rural rites, then it may disappear into folk history.

Charlie Corcoran, bagman (chairman) of the Morris Ring, said: “There is a distinct possibility that in 20 years' time there will be nobody left. It worries me a great deal. Young people are just too embarrassed to take part.”

Troupes around the country are practising for spring fertility celebrations, but the average age of the dancers is becoming older with each passing year. The message board of the Morris Ring, which includes a United Fools Convenor among its officers, regularly carries the obituaries of men who have been at the heart of Britain's morris scene since the first part of the 20th century.

Thomas Townsend, who died late last year, first danced at Whitsun in 1925, at the age of 11, instructed by men who themselves entered the tradition in the latter half of the 19th century. He continued dancing into his late eighties, and his passing was seen as the end of an era.

Eight decades after Mr Townsend's first dance, morris troupes find it far harder to attract young men and boys to the tradition. Keith Moule, 68, a semi-retired print dealer from the Ilmington Morris Men, told The Times: “We are all getting older, and our troupe has not attracted many youngsters. There are so many other things for young people to do. They have got all these wonderful games and computers. Also some of these youngsters are not quite as fit as we were and are still.”

He appealed to young people to put down their consoles and look up their local side. “It's our link with the past, it's one of those wonderful traditions like bell ringing that we need to preserve,” he said. “Over the summer we dance every Wednesday night at all the surrounding villages and hamlets. It doesn't matter if there are only two men and a dog and the dog bites you. We are keeping a tradition going.”

The Morris Ring is now mounting a winter recruitment drive to try to address the problem. “This is a serious situation,” Mr Corcoran said. “Once we've lost this part of our culture it will be almost impossible to revive it.”

Paul Reece, chairman of the Advisory Council of the Morris Ring, said: “There is still time for new blood to get ready for the spring fertility offensive. Such customs and activities were once a common sight around the country.

“Today they are carried out by an ever-dwindling stalwart band of enthusiasts who are determined to keep them alive. But there is a serious danger that, in less than a few decades, morris dancing will be confined to the history books.”

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