ELDERLY day centre users staged a hunger strike in protest against council plans to relocate the service.

More than 20 people who rely on the Mel Milaap Day Centre at Charing Cross in Glasgow - including a Second World War veteran and two people over 90 - are protesting against plans to move the service to the Southside.

The heartbroken pensioners say they went without food on Wednesday and have been left worried and upset at the prospect of leaving their "second home".

Glasgow City Council has given them until October 21 before they will withdraw day care services.

The authority says this is because the building in Berkeley Street, which is also home to Mel Milaap Community Centre, does not meet health and safety specifications, including fire safety.

Mel Milaap caters for elderly people from the local Asian community and was one of the first ethnic minority day centres of its kind in Scotland when it openned in 1989.

Many elderly people have been visiting the community centre for more than 20 years.

Users attend five days a week to take part in activities, socialise with friends and are fed a cooked meal.

The council is offering them the use of Merrylee Lodge in the Southside of the city, which also serves as a care home, as an alternative as it is safer.

But those who use Mel Milaap, which joins on to and is owned by the Central Gurdwara Singh Sabha, say moving would take them away from their local area and places of worship.

Many have health problems and are worried about making the journey across the city.

Service user Parkash Singh Sohi, 72, said: "We were so upset that many of us did not feel like eating so we decided to go on hunger strike.

"Some of us have health problems and diabetes so we knew we couldn't do it for a long period of time but this is an indication of the way that we feel."

Veteran Darbara Singh Bhullar, 91, who served in Burma and Singapore for the British army in the Second World War said: "We are being asked to leave all that is familiar to us. It is very sad."

Another user, Gurnam Singh Bedi, said: "I am 83 years old and three quarters blind.

"I live in Argyle Street but I can make my way to this centre and home again because I know the way."

Harinder Cohli, 85, added: "We are heartbroken. This is a second home for us - we all look out for each other."

The elderly users, backed by Glasgow MSP Sandra White, are calling on the council to give the day centre owners more time to carry out the required improvements but this has so far been refused.

Ms White, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, said that she is "very disappointed".

She added: "I've been in Mel-Milaap on numerous occasions and would suggest that the warmth that is apparent as soon as you walk through the door cannot be replicated in any other building.

"So I plead with Glasgow City Council's social work department to give them the extension they've requested to allow them to put forward a solution to the issues that have been raised."

The elderly users have also launched a petition and have collected 1500 signatures.

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: "The building does not meet the health and safety standards needed for a registered elderly day care centre.

"Safety concerns were raised with the Gurdwara last year but there has been no progress on repairs.

"An alternative day care centre, which is safe and up-to-standard, has been made available."

"The council will provide transport to the centre and places of worship."

linzi.watson@eveningtimes.co.uk