Axe falls on care centre

An elderly people's day centre in Walsall is to close after more than 20 years, with its bosses blaming changes in council funding.

Walsall East Day Care Centre, in Pelsall Lane, Rushall, which is used by 48 elderly people, will be the third in the borough to close in just six months.

Mabel Smith, aged 71, who suffers from mobility problems, began attending Walsall East Day Care Centre after the Age Concern base she used to go to, in Dartmouth Avenue, Ryecroft, closed last year.

The Pelsall pensioner of said fellow users were upset at the news.

"One man has been going there for about 20 years, and he just burst into tears," she said. "It just feels like a slap in the face."

Bosses at the centre say that closure, which will leave 10 staff out of work, is due to a change from a block to a spot contract, which means that centres are paid per person attending each day.

Centre manager Carol Tibbott said: "It is with great sadness that after nearly 23 years, Walsall East Day Care Centre will close on March 26. Service users and staff are very upset"

Margaret Willcox, Wal-sall's acting director for social care, said the centre was not council-run.

"We will continue to fund attendance at the independent sector day care centres, for those people with an assessed need," she said.

"Walsall East Day Care Centre is not owned or run by the council, the centre has made the decision to close."