Leisure facilities for elderly people living on a Colchester estate have come under fire amid pensioners' calls for better activities for the "young at heart".

A special meeting targeting the needs of the elderly in the Greenstead area of Colchester has been held.

As well as better transport, more policing and more facilities, there was also a call for better leisure provision for elderly people living on the estate.

The call was led by Greenstead resident June Wilmerson who said there were very few active pursuits, such as dancing and swimming, for elderly people. She suggested that tea dances should be organised.

She also called for greater, and more relaxed, use of Sir Charles Lucas's swimming pool.

Mrs Wilmerson said: "We are getting a more modern older person coming along. Things to do might have been enough for my grandmother, but not for us. I prefer to do something more active.

"I would like to go dancing but there's very little transport. We don't all want to just sit back in an armchair doing knitting for Auntie Nora.

"We don't all like bingo and there's nothing for the younger minded 60-plus people."

Problems with transport were also raised. Tim Young (Lab, St Andrews) said it was "ridiculous" that there was no direct bus service between Greenstead and Essex County Hospital and Leisure World. He vowed to keep trying to change the situation, adding a service between the three destinations would be well used.

Lynn Traynor, Colchester Council's development worker for Greenstead, said better provisions for elderly people would be made possible by the planned community centre, which should be completed within about 12 months.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.