A DAY centre for people with learning disabilities in Oswestry is one of a number of centres across Shropshire to stop running services because of increased Covid-19 infection rates.

Users of the Avalon Day Centre, in Victoria Road, will be at home from Thursday with staff staying in touch via the phone or online, with activity packs and work being delivered to them.

Michaela Richardson, Shropshire Council’s locality organiser – day services – said the decision to end services for the short-term was arrived at by the increasing infection ate across the county.

She added: “Our day services teams will continue to deliver the services in a different way, and for the next two weeks will focus on supporting people through outreach activity, in the community, by telephone and digitally.

"We will continue to send out our Activity Packs and Happy Boxes, and ensure that the people we support and their families have what they need to stay well and resilient during the latest lockdown.

“This is as result of the infection rates in our communities now presenting a greater risk to the people we support, their families and our staff, and we are also experiencing a small number of positive cases and people being advised to self-isolate in the staff team and the people who attend the centres.

“We will keep this decision under careful consideration in the next couple of weeks.

"The day service buildings will remain open for staff to work from safely, and they will be available to support anyone who is identified through a risk assessment, as having a greater benefit from having some centre-based support.”

Also ending services are Aquamira, Abbots Wood, Albert Road, Greenacres, Wayfarers, Helena Lane, based in Shrewsbury, Ludlow and Market Drayton.