DAY centre visitors face having to bring packed lunches instead of enjoying hot meals.

People who attend Tower House Day Centre say they are upset and disappointed at the proposal by Brighton and Hove City Council to stop offering subsidised cooked lunches from April.

In a letter to members of the centre off London Road in Brighton, Jackie Hall, the council’s service manager of providing day services, said: “The cost of providing hot midday meals is substantially more than the amount we can charge for meals and so is not the best use of limited resources the service has.”

Andrew Cole, 54, of Batemans Road, Woodingdean, had to retire from his job as a University of Brighton caretaker when he had a severe stroke in 2006.

It affected the whole of the left side of his body, including his movement and speech. He has been visiting the centre twice a week for four years.

He said: “The only thing I’m able to make myself is porridge now – everything else I need help with. The meals are excellent there and I want to be able to continue eating nice, warm food there and make it a bit of a social occasion.

“The council may save money this way, but it’s going to cost us more and won’t help us. It’s quite upsetting. I would be prepared to pay a little more for the scheme to continue.”

Rita Packham, 81, of Marden Close, Woodingdean, claims visits cost £40 a time but will not be value for money without a hot meal.

She said: “I pay £30 to visit the centre, and I’m not even sure what this pays for, as well as £3.90 for my travel and £3.90 for the hot meal. The food is really popular and the centre has lovely staff.

“There is often at least 30 of us eating together and some of them cannot feed themselves and are in much more need than I am. No one will want to eat sandwiches every day.”

She also claimed three kitchen staff could lose their jobs but this has not been confirmed by the council.

A council spokeswoman said a range of options would be available to visitors, with those unable to bring a packed lunch offered a paid-for sandwich or meal delivery service.

But she said this “is most likely to apply to only a small number of people”.

She said staff would talk to users, and family members where needed, to make sure everyone is provided for and other options with voluntary organisations may be available in the future but this was not yet confirmed.