Plans for a drop-in centre for elderly people have been given a cautious welcome by campaigners in west Oxford.

Former city councillor John Power has praised Elim Church in Botley Road for opening its doors to pensioners, but claimed the city council should still be investing in services for older residents in the area.

Mr Power and others in the area have been campaigning for a day centre for the elderly since council-run Oseney Court in Botley Road was closed in 1999, and replaced with social housing.

As a result, members of Elim Church -- who already run a lunch club for pensioners -- have agreed to run a voluntary drop-in centre every Thursday.

Their proposals have been backed by the city council's central, south and west area committee, which has given them a grant to upgrade access and build new disabled toilets.

But Mr Power said the council must invest more in services for the elderly.

He wants councillors to consider adding a condition into the planning agreement for new houses in Lamarsh Road, which would require the developer to incorporate facilities for the elderly into their scheme.

Speaking about the Elim Church drop-in, Mr Power said: "Anything for the elderly in west Oxford is a good step forward, but we haven't given up hope for a day centre.

"While I welcome the voluntary work at the church, we still need the council to make a contribution. We can't rely on volunteers for too long and the council should be putting some investment into it.

"If we want this to be more than a drop-in centre, with services like chiropody, we need trained experts, so this is just a drop in the ocean."

Pastor Simon Fullylove said members of Elim Church were keen for their building to be used by the community, and about 25 people already benefit from their monthly lunch club.

He said: "It's a thoroughly under-used resource, and one of the things that has come up is an area of need for the elderly. It's ideal for us and we said we would try to meet that need.

"The council agreed to give us £10,000 towards our plans for a new toilet block with disabled toilets, and building work will be complete in December.

"It will be next year before we'll be up and running, but every Thursday afternoon we will be a place where people can come and chat for a couple of hours. We could show films and people could come and give talks.

"Although it will only be once a week at first, we could consider doing it more often if there's a need."

Oxford City Council is now considering a city-wide survey of older people, to find out where services are needed.