A ONCE leading mental health treatment unit has received a further blow to its future.

Worcestershire County Council's cabinet members backed shutting the Lea Castle Centre in Wolverley, yesterday.

The unit provides specialist treatment and assessment for patients with complex needs. It was viewed as among the best in the treatment of mental health problems during the 1960s and 1970s.

Without the council chiefs' support to keep the centre open, its future looks bleak, although the door is still open for Worcestershire Primary Care Trust - PCT - to use part of the site.

Only a handful of patients remain at Lea Castle, which is run by Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust.

Coventry health bosses began consulting on the centre's future in January.

The consultation process runs until March 28.

Dr Richard Taylor, Wyre Forest MP, has led calls for the centre to be kept running, but on a smaller scale.

Nigel Knowles, Labour county councillor, has got together with concerned parents to form an action group, opposing the closure.

The group's next meeting to discuss a way forward is at the Tulip Tree Centre, in Castle Road, Kidderminster, at 3pm on Tuesday, April 1.