A council-run garden centre staffed by people with severe learning difficulties has been axed.

Southend Council officers decided to pull the plug on the venture at the Maybrook Training Centre in Southchurch Road because it was costing them too much money.

They added that the scheme had been replaced with a smaller "in-house" project which would not involve workers selling plants and gardening items to the public.

But the decision has been branded "heartless" by friends of members who claim that the centre provided essential learning skills for those involved.

Lindsay Sorrell, of Marcus Avenue, Thorpe Bay, whose sister Gillian Brett attends the training centre, said: "The centre has been up and running for the best part of 15 years and had proved popular with both members and the public. Now it has been closed without any real consultation which is a heartless decision."

A spokesman at the Maybrook Training Centre said: "The garden centre was closed recently and has been replaced with an in-house horticultural project.

"Unfortunately, this will not involve our users meeting the public. The decision to cease the scheme was merely a financial one."

Published Tuesday, June 17, 2003

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