A charity which helps elderly people has announced it is closing one of its day centres.

Age UK Faversham and Sittingbourne will shut the Belle Friday Centre, in London Road, Teynham, which currently provides day services twice a week and dementia day services three times a week, as well as hair and foot care services.

The charity said the decision to close the site was made for a number of reasons.

The first was that the charity wishes to expand its dementia day services.

A dedicated unit will be created at the Faversham centre, which will enable more clients to be accommodated.

The Faversham site already operates seven days a week, so the dementia day care service will have the capacity to move from a three-day to a seven-day service.

The other reasons for the closure were that the numbers for traditional older persons' day services have been falling at Teynham in recent years, meaning the service is running at a "significant loss", and that there are concerns about ongoing client safety as the site does not have any parking.

As such, many frail and vulnerable people – including some with dementia – are having to step off the bus directly onto the A2. Whilst staff are on hand to assist clients when getting on and off the buses, the charity said, the road is becoming increasingly busy and this a growing concern.

Meanwhile, those attending via their own transport are having to park some distance from the site and cross the busy A2.

Speaking about the closure, chief officer Liz Thorne said: "It is with much regret that the board of trustees have made the decision to close the Belle Friday Centre.

"The site is no longer suitable for our ongoing use, and is not currently financially viable due to low numbers of clients for our traditional day services.

"Our two nearby centres at Faversham and Sittingbourne provide a greater range of services, including in-centre assisted bathing and information and advice on site, and can accommodate all of our clients, who will be able to access the centres via our adapted fleet of minibuses."

She added: "We will be working with our staff, volunteers and clients over the next few months to ensure the transition happens as smoothly as possible.

"We will also be looking at the possibility of establishing a regular lunch club in Teynham for those people who would still like to attend something in the village."

The charity said there is not yet a date for the closure of the Belle Friday Centre and that there would be no immediate redundancies as all staff will be transferred to the other centres.

Managers will work with staff, volunteers and clients to progress the move once the dementia facility at Faversham has been completed.

The Bell Friday Centre will be sold to fund improvements and new services at Faversham and Sittingbourne.

For details about Age UK's services, call 01795 532766 or visit www.ageuk.org.uk/favershamandsittingbourne