THREE children’s health centres in north Essex will be closed permanently.

Health bosses at the North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group approved plans to dispose of the centres at a board meeting yesterday.

The sites include Shrub End Clinic in Iceni Way, Colchester, and Monkwick Clinic, in Queen Elizabeth Way, Colchester and the Mistley Clinic in New Road, Mistley.

NHS bosses decided the buildings should be sold to save cash.

They blamed vandalism and the legionella bug at one of the sites as reasons not to continue paying the rent.

The buildings are owned by NHS Property Services and rented by the North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group.

Colchester councillor David Harris had called on health bosses to spare the Monkwick Clinic, which had been described as a vital resource providing check-ups for new-born babies.

He said: “It comes as a shock to the people of the area, that the Monkwick clinic is even considered to be taken away.

“There has been no consultation and no engagement with the public and I understand they were not given the opportunity to use that facility.

“The population for Colchester is escalating on a huge level and to consider that building to be demolished or sold is a wrong move.”

He added that staff at the site in Monkwick only recently learned about the closure.

A report revealed it would cost £193,000 a year in rent to keep the sites open.

Dr Max Hickman, the CCG’s clinical vice-chairman, said: “We simply cannot have a cost pressure of having an empty building we are paying the rent on.

“It is now down on NHS England to decide and they can offer it to the public sector and someone might say great lets have those buildings.”

Kirsty Denwood, the CCG’s chief finance officer, said Virgin Health, which has been awarded a seven-year contract to run Essex County Council’s children’s services, will not be using the buildings so they are no longer needed.

“We don’t have any services we need to commission from those buildings,” she added.

“NHS Property Services will go through a disposal process which includes offering out to the rest of the public sector the opportunity to utilise the estate.”

The Mistley Clinic has been closed since last month after legionella bacteria was found in a toilet during a routine check.

However the site had not been regularly used for some time.

Martin Rayner, Mistley Parish Council chairman, said: “No-one really uses the clinic at all since Manningtree Children’s Centre was merged with the Windmill Children’s Centre in Ramsey years ago.

“In my view, if the clinic is sold it could pave the way for a better, more attractive and more useful development.”