COLCHESTER Council is to axe funding for a centre where residents can get confidential advice on health.

The authority gave £11,428 to help Cornerstone, the health and welfare centre based in Sir Isaacs Walk, Colchester, last year.

But council chiefs have decided to withdraw funding at the end of June, with a final £2,900 payment being given to the centre over the next three months.

It is understood NHS North East Essex, which runs the centre offering advice ranging from sexual health for young people to how to quit smoking, will now be the sole funders.

The money will instead go to Colchester’s Citizens Advice Bureau, which was based at the Sir Isaacs Walk base until it moved to a new home in Crouch Street, and the Colchester Youth Enquiry Service.

Tina Dopson, councillor responsible for performance and partnerships, said the Citizens Advice Bureau was facing a higher rent at its new base and deserved extra funding during a recession.

She added Cornerstone’s services met the priorities of health providers rather than the local authority.

She said: “We felt Cornerstone is now purely a primary care trust-operated service. I’ve been in discussions with Cornerstone over several months about this.

“We have to cut our cloth and we felt the Citizens Advice Bureau needed the help.”

Other voluntary organisations in Colchester, including Shopmobility and Colchester United Community Sports Trust, have been given a 1.5 per cent increase on last year’s grants.

No one from NHS North East Essex or Cornerstone was available for comment yesterday.