A COMMUNITY mental health service bade a farewell today to its home for the past 23 years.

The Acorn Centre, based at Cowley Community Centre in Barns Road, was forced to leave after the building was condemned by the city council's fire safety officer last year.

More than 70 people who use the service joined staff to mark the occasion.

Conroy Harris, a cognitive behavioural therapist based at the centre, said: "It's a very sad day for us. We've done a lot of good work here - it's the end of an era.

"We can't help but feel the council has let us down.

"There are 40 people a day using this site for mental health support and the support we've been given by the council has been negligible."

He added: "While we are looking for a more central place to operate from we will be forced to run the service from different community centres across the city, which isn't ideal."

These will include East Oxford, West Oxford and South Oxford community centres. For details, call 07505 628351 or 07505 626833.