CONCERNS have been raised by Hyndburn MP Graham Jones on plans to shut down a day centre in Accrington.

Hyndburn Resource Centre in Nelson Street is currently used by elderly and disabled residents from across the borough.

But plans have now been announced by Lancashire County Council to shut down the site as part of a reorganisation of services in the area.

Mr Jones said he was concerned that the large building will fall into disrepair and be a blot on the landscape.

The building is next to an empty former care home.

It is planned to shut Hyndburn Resource Centre in the spring of next year.

All services will be transferred to a new facility being built at Enfield Day Centre in Church.

Currently all users of that facility are using the Nelson Street site as renovation work is completed.

Mr Jones said: “Clearly the county council is trying to rationalise resources, usually a euphemism for cuts, at the Enfield Day Centre.

“The county council will leave an unwanted eyesore in a problematic part of town.

"That is what happened at the neighbouring old people’s establishment.”

Mr Jones, who remains a county councillor, as well as an MP, has written to bosses at County Hall to raise his concerns.

Phil Halsall, Lancashire County Council chief executive, writing in a letter to Mr Jones, said: “Lancashire County Council has recently invested £17.5million across the country to make adult disability day services better equipped to provide modern facilities.

“Neither of the buildings is fit for purpose and a substantial investment has been made in Hyndburn.”

He said the new ‘state-of-the-art’ facility will provide a day centre base for learning and physical disability services.

It will include personal care facilities, a training kitchen, a sensory room and computer equipment.