A DAY centre in Ely used by up to 50 adults with mental health needs is to close and the Victorian building will be sold off. County county officials believe the Croylands site is no longer fit for purpose and needs at least £250,000 spending on it to b

A DAY centre in Ely used by up to 50 adults with mental health needs is to close and the Victorian building will be sold off.

County county officials believe the Croylands site is "no longer fit for purpose" and needs at least £250,000 spending on it to bring it up to modern standards.

Even then, concludes Claire Bruin, director of adult support services for Cambridgeshire County Council, "this would not solve space utilisation issues and future maintenance costs."

The decision to close Croylands, and reinvest the capital receipts from selling the building to help with a £915,000 refurbishment of Larkfield Resource centre to provide joint facilities, was agreed by the county council's Cabinet last week.

Ms Bruin told councillors that the problems with Croylands, standing in nearly an acre of grounds, had been discussed for some time with the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mental Health Trust.

Ms Bruin believes that relocating to the Larkfield Resource Centre in Ely, which is occupied by the Learning Disability Partnership, remains the best option.

Some 20 staff work at Croylands and it is expected all will be relocated.

"This will inevitably cause a disruption to the service, which can be minimised by careful staff management," says Ms Bruin.