A day care centre in Kingsbridge is to close due to a lack of demand, Devon County Council (DCC) has said.

Tumbly Hill, as well as its older people day services, will close. In total, six adult day care services for people with learning disabilities and older people are to be axed.

They include the Learning Disability Services at Lyric in Okehampton, Newholme in Honiton, Rosalind House in Tiverton and Silverhill in Barnstaple.

DCC said no-one was currently attending the in-house day services at the centres, except for Rosalind House, which has one person.

DCC revealed that the number of eligible people accessing its in-house learning disability day services had fallen from 116 in 2015 to 12 today.

Cllr James McInnes, DCC’s head of adult social care, said about the closures: “This isn't about withdrawing support for those who need it - this is about how we give them that support.

“Over a period of years before the pandemic fewer and fewer people actually chose the option of attending a day centre. It's dwindled to a point now where we only have one person attending the centres and services identified here.

“People are not choosing Devon County Council's day centres. They want something nearer their homes in terms of being nearer people they know or doing activities they find more fulfilling.”

The Council currently commissions 81 independent sector providers to deliver day services in Devon, with around 480 people receiving a day service in the county, through commissioned and in-house services.