Wetherby Day Centre in Derby to be closed by council

Plans to close an "out-dated" day centre for adults with learning difficulties have been announced by Derby City Council.

About 120 users of Alvaston's Wetherby Centre will instead receive a "personal budget" to manage their own care.

The authority said the 1960s building, housed on an industrial estate was "not relevant any more" and closing it would save more than £300,000 a year.

About 60 staff at the centre will be redeployed or made redundant.

Fareed Hussain, Derby City Council's cabinet member for adults and health, said the decision reflected the authority's wish to move away from a "one-size-fits-all" approach to day care towards a system more tailored to individual needs.

Alternatives to spending time at the day care centre would be voluntary and paid work schemes, sports and swimming at council leisure centres and help at home from trained staff.

He said: "Those people who are in greater need and unable to make arrangements for their own day care will be looked after and we will make appropriate arrangements for them to carry on receiving day care."

John McFarlane, whose son attends Wetherby, said it was "a disgrace" the council was shutting a day centre at a time when it was spending £34m refurbishing its headquarters.

A three-month consultation on the plans starts on 20 August.