A MUCH-loved horticultural therapy centre near Malvern that has helped hundreds of people with mental health problems is being axed.

Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust announced this week that the Link Nurseries at Powick will be closed in April next year in a major shake-up of the services it offers in the community.

The nursery offers people with a variety of mental health problems the chance to grow fruit,vegetables and plants which are then sold to the public.

When the closure proposal was announced last month, the Friends of Link Nurseries described it as "a catastrophe".

Judith Aldridge, secretary of the Friends, said the nursery offers a unique service in the county which will now be lost.

But she said the nursery's supporters will hold their own meeting shortly to discuss ways of keeping the centre going.

She said: "Let us have your thoughts and whether you'd like to come along and discuss a possible future incarnation for the nurseries, which we all value despite NHS failure to understand their true worth."

District councillor Tom Wells said: "The fact that the NHS fails to see the value of this excellent facility doesn't mean it should be allowed to die.

"I'm determined to work closely with the Friends to explore ways of keeping it going outside the NHS, possibly as a social enterprise, in the same way that the Cube and West Malvern Outdoor Centre were kept alive after the county council stopped funding them."

MP Harriett Baldwin said: "This week the government announced an additional £600million for mental health services and billions more funding for the NHS, so I am absolutely incensed that the trust aren't even considering alternatives to closure.

“I hope the trust will work towards strategy which benefits both patients and the local community.”

As well as Link Nurseries, a centre in Redditch will be closed, and the Shrub Hill Workshop in Worcester will remain open until new city centre premises are found.

In its statement, the NHS Trust said: "It has been proposed that there is a single venue that offers a wider range of activities, including intensive support to build confidence and self-esteem. Another key theme was to have this venue in a place most accessible to the majority and we therefore expect it to be Worcester city, and we are seeking a new venue for the longer term."

"We fully understand the concerns people who currently attend and work in the centres may have with this and we recognise the changes being proposed represent quite a significant shift from where we are currently."