A LIFELINE day hospice for Maldon patients with life limiting illnesses will close next month because its water supply is set to be cut off.

Farleigh Hospice runs a day service from a building at the Bentalls complex on Colchester Road in Heybridge.

It offers patients support, assessment and nursing care and creative activities such as arts and crafts.

But the centre will shut its doors on December 15 as a nearby factory, which supplies water, is being decommissioned.

Farleigh Hospice had already been looking for new premises due to the repair works needed and a lack of space at the centre.

A letter, seen by the Standard, was sent to volunteers to inform them of the closure last Tuesday.

The letter signed by staff including Alison Stevens, chief executive officer, thanked volunteers for their “support and commitment”.

A spokesman said: “Our building in the Bentalls Complex has multiple problems including a leaking roof and unstable flooring which requires substantial investment, and is not large enough for the growth in services that Farleigh Hospice would like to offer.

“Therefore, we have been looking for an alternative building in the Maldon area prior to closing the current building, but we have so far been unable to find a suitable location.

“Farleigh Hospice will continue to offer our patients and carers the support they need, and they will be given a number of options on what this support will be until a new building opens.

“We have been talking to patients, staff and volunteers and have been inundated with support and understanding.

“We hope the impact on individuals will be minimised by the in- creased support they will receive from other hospice teams.

“Several patients have already agreed to meet as social groups in various locations and homes and we’re working hard to find suita- ble venues for other groups.”

The day hospice building in Maldon first opened in July 1995, and celebrated its 20th anniversary last year.

Miriam Lewis, leader of Maldon District Council, said the council would work with the hospice to find a new home.

She said: “We will do everything we can to help them find some- where for this very valuable facility in Maldon.

“I hope they can find somewhere else quickly.”

A spokesman for Wyndeham Heron Ltd, the factory which provides Farleigh Hospice with the water supply, said:  "We are the tenants of the Heybridge site, which has been largely disused for around two years following the closure of the Heron printing operations.

"As a goodwill gesture we have been happy to allow Farleigh Hospice free access to our water supply without charge.

"We are now looking to vacate the site completely in the next few months and we cannot guarantee that any new occupant of the site will be willing to continue with this arrangement.

"We may also be obliged by our insurers to shut the water supply off if we are no longer occupying the site; however we do not anticipate leaving before the end of February 2017."