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A leading disability rights campaigner said she would like to "dynamite" day centres for people with disabilities, writes Janet Snell in Newcastle.

Frances Hasler, chief executive of the National Centre for Independent Living, told a policy session in Newcastle: "I just can’t see the point of most day centres," adding that what people wanted were accessible public buildings when they could meet socially.

But several members of the audience warned that closure was just not on the cards because of local opposition – most notably from service users themselves.

Gerry Zarb, head of health and independent living strategy at the Disability Rights Commission, said: "When you try to close a day centre there is often uproar and I have every sympathy with a local authority that finds itself in a bind and getting a lot of grief.