CARERS and the parents of users of Skipton's Snaygill Centre appear to have lost their fight to save it from closing.

Letters have been sent out to the parents and carers of the disabled people who use the centre in Keighley Road informing them that North Yorkshire County Council intends to close the premises on December 2 - Carer's Rights Day.

Around 30 people will be affected by the closure of Snaygill. Some of them have been attending the facility since it was first built as a day care centre for the disabled more than 40 years ago.

Alternative arrangements suggested by the council include Navigation House in Skipton, Neville Crescent in Gargrave and the Army Cadet Hut on the Horse Close Estate.

However, the carers group has said none of these are suitable.

Catherine Parker's 59-year-old sister attends the centre.

She said: "What they are offering us is not of suitable similar provision to the Snaygill Centre."

Her views were echoed by Tracey Armitage, whose son Robert has been attending Snaygill for a number of years.

"Why should our community be broken up because some Government politicians decided they know what is best for our loved ones?" she said. "We feel like cuckoos, being thrown into someone else's nest.

"Why is it that the views of us, the people who are with them 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, are not considered important?"

For Estelle and Eric Robertson the decision to close Snaygill is even more worrying.

Their daughter, Kathryn, who has Down's Syndrome, is now 52 and has been going to Snaygill since she was 11.

"This is her second home," said Mrs Robertson.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire County Council told the Herald that although a date in December had been given in letters to users of Snaygill, it was important they did not fixate on that as a definite closure date.

"We won't be closing Snaygill until all the users have been found an appropriate alternative service," he said.

Skipton and Ripon Conservative MP David Curry has arranged a meeting with Derek Law, head of social services at North Yorkshire County Council on Monday September 26.