HER blind and physically and mentally handicapped daughter uses the hydrotherapy pool at a York day care centre twice a week.

Susan Williams says her daughter, Catrina, 45, enjoys the exercise and freedom it gives her from her wheelchair. "It's one of the few things she can do outside her wheelchair," she said.

But she spoke today of her fears about what will happen when the pool, along with the rest of Yearsley Bridge centre, is closed down by City of York Council.

Mrs Williams, of Middlethorpe, York, contacted The Press to raise her concerns after reading claims by council chief Bill Hodson that the closure of the centre was part of an attempt to modernise and improve the way the council cares for and supports adults with learning disabilities.

She said: "Perhaps he can tell me what modernised and improved' facilities the council plan to provide for people who use Yearsley Bridge hydrotherapy pool?

"There is not another one in the York area, and this pool is in continuous daily use.

"My daughter uses it twice a week.

"Please reassure me that she and other regular customers will have the modernised and improved service' the council is promising."

She said parents had raised funds many years ago to pay for the pool.

Mrs Williams is the latest relative of a Yearsley Bridge customer to complain about the authority's decision to shut down the centre in Huntington Road.

She said that, like other relatives quoted in The Press, she had not been consulted by the council before the decision was taken, and nor had she been informed about what was happening, although she had now received a letter inviting her to a meeting next month.

The Press asked the council to respond to her comments, and in particular asked if it could reassure Yearsley customers that a hydrotherapy pool would continue to be available after the centre shuts.

The authority said issues such as this could be raised at meetings being planned for next month with centre users and their families.

A spokeswoman said: "The meetings in December are to ensure that the council supports people who use Yearsley Bridge to give their views about what they want.

"There will be an opportunity for issues like this to be raised.

"The council will then be in a position to come back with proposals on what kind of services are required to meet people's needs."