A PRIVATE health clinic in Trimpley specialising in cancer care is closing.

The Park Attwood Clinic, which cares for people with conditions ranging from multiple sclerosis to depression and anxiety, is in the process of ceasing all patient activity.

Some services, principally specialist cancer treatment, will merge with The Raphael Medical Centre in Kent, beginning operations there on May 17.

At the end of last year, the doctor-led clinic, which integrates conventional and complementary approaches, had already been forced to axe its residential service.

Dr Maurice Orange, clinical lead with an emphasis on cancer care, who has worked at the clinic for 23 years, explained it was the recession that had led to the closure.

He said: “The economic situation was the central factor. We couldn’t see how we could continue in the current climate."

He added that he would be offering a reduced out-patient service in Kent which he hoped would become full-time by the autumn.

Set in the middle of the countryside, the Park Attwood site used to be a hotel and country club, attracting guests such as Elizabeth Taylor and racing driver, Peter Collins.

The clinic was founded in 1979 with a small team of staff which, by last year, had grown to 53.

Overall, the majority of patients had been privately funded but the clinic, which is a not-for-profit organisation, also received referrals from the NHS or social services.