THE lives of 30 adults with varying disabilities will be "severely disrupted" if their day care centre service is moved from its purpose-built property in Snaygill to the centre of Skipton.

Parents and carers fiercely oppose plans to move the service to Navigation House on Belmont Bridge and are adamant they will not go-ahead.

However, a county council spokesman said the number of people using Snaygill had dropped because of the introduction of a similar service in Settle, a growth in community activities and the growing number of people with learning difficulties being integrated into college.

He said that smaller "satellite" centres would be more beneficial to the users.

This was disputed by father Eric Robertson, who claimed Navigation House would not be suitable for his daughter.

He said Kathryn, who has Down's Syndrome, had been going to the Snaygill Centre on Keighley Road since the 1960s, and had settled into a comfortable routine which she enjoyed.

He added that 18 months ago he attended a meeting where parents and carers were told about the possibility of moving sites. They were also told that everyone would be consulted.

Now parents and carers have received a letter saying terms had been agreed on a three-year lease for Navigation House. They met on Wednesday and decided to oppose the move.

Catharine Parker said: "I personally think that the main reason (for the proposed change) is that we are on a prime piece of land that is worth a lot of money."

All agreed that the proposed site was not as conducive as the one at Snaygill. Here the users have a kitchen, a quiet safe area to sit outside, computers to use, a flat with beds and the use of a shower.

The Stepping Stones group, a horticultural class for adults, also runs from the site.

The parents have not been invited to look around Navigation House but claim it will be too small, have nowhere for the users to relax, and say its location next to a main road is dangerous.

"Where will be their sense of home? Where are they going to have their lunch, they can't be rushing round town for a sandwich?" asked Tracey Armitage.

Currently the service users are picked up from home, taken to the Snaygill Centre and spend time there until they are transported to various activities and classes around Skipton.

They usually come back to the centre for lunch and if they have no scheduled activities can spend time painting, drawing, watching television and the like.

Parents expect that under the new scheme the group will be split into smaller units and be taken straight from home to the first activity and then on to the next one, removing the need for a base.

Parents said the service users would not be able to cope with the changes and would miss the friendships they had made.

Mr Dobson said: "I can't see why they need to move."

He has written to Skipton and Ripon MP David Curry claiming that changes which deeply affected mentally handicapped citizens were being pushed through.

"Far from being valued, they are left with a poorer quality of life, cut off from their circle of friends and deprived of activities which mark the high points of their daily lives," he added.

Mr Curry has agreed to look into the situation. Meanwhile, parents were due to meet council representatives yesterday.