Devastation at riding centre closure announcement

Visitors would learn to ride horses or spend time grooming them at the centre

Visitors to a horse-riding facility for disabled people said they were devastated to learn it was to close over a lack of funds.

Middlesbrough's Unicorn Centre gives people with disabilities and learning difficulties the opportunity to ride and enjoy time with horses.

But its trustees announced with "heartfelt sadness" it would close, saying: "Despite everyone's incredible dedication and tireless fundraising efforts, we have faced growing financial pressures that we can no longer overcome."

Parents said the news was "so difficult" and a "real shock", while users expressed their determination to keep the site open.

Visitors to the centre, which opened in 1998, would learn to ride its horses or spent time grooming them as a calming experience.

Parent Kim Senior said telling her daughter the centre would close had been "so difficult".

Another parent, Rachel Smith, said: "I just think it's devastating for all involved.

"It's a fantastic place and I just wonder what's going to happen to the staff, the people who visit and the horses?"

Olivia Fairclough said she was determined to save the centre

Staff and trustees started a fundraising appeal last year over rising running costs.

A statement on its website read: "After careful consideration, the Board of Trustees has unanimously decided that the Centre must close.

"This was an extremely difficult decision, made only after every possible option had been explored."

However, Olivia Fairclough, who has visited the centre for riding since she was paralysed 10 years ago, said: "I am not going to accept it.

"This centre means a great deal to everybody... it's a home."

She added that she would try her hardest to save the facility.