A man who was left severely disabled after being brain damaged at birth faces making a 140-mile round trip to access respite care services.

Stuart Gadd, 48, who is confined to a wheelchair, faces making a lengthy trip to Taunton for his respite care because Orchard View at Ham Green, where he has been staying for 16 years, is closing at the end of the month.

Stuart, who lives with mum Mavis Price in St George, Bristol, gets eight weeks of respite care provided every year and also goes to Orchard View two days a week.

When the unit closes he will go to Paul's Place in Coalpit Heath four days a week and spend his respite weeks at Halcon House, which caters for young disabled adults, in Taunton – 72 miles away.

Mrs Price, 75, who is also chairwoman of the Friends of Orchard View, has spent months searching for alternative respite care for her son.

She said that Halcon House was the nearest centre which suited Stuart's needs.

Mrs Price said: "I have done my research and Halcon House is the best and nearest place for Stuart to have his respite care.

"It is ridiculous that he will have to make a round trip of 140 miles up to eight times a year to access the respite care services he needs, especially when Orchard View was practically on our doorstep.

"Stuart loves Orchard View and as well as being a fantastic place, he has made so many friends there – it is more like an extended family.

"He now faces being split from many of his friends and travelling 140 miles to get the respite care he needs."

Mrs Price said she also looked at another place called Vitalise where Stuart had been before.

But as it was in Southampton, the journey would have been too long for Stuart to make on a regular basis.

Mrs Price said: "The respite care provides Stuart and I with a much needed break. It is the only chance I get to rest and have a holiday.

"There are lots of other people at Orchard View that still do not know where or how they are going to access any respite care, which is very upsetting and worrying for them and their families."

Orchard View, which is based on the former Ham Green Hospital site, has been operating since the Sixties and provides respite care for about 80 disabled adults aged between 18 and 64 each year.

But the North Bristol NHS Trust, which runs Orchard View, is planning to close the centre by the end of September, saying the facilities there are sub-standard.

Users, supporters and staff at Orchard View have been campaigning for the past two years to keep the centre open.

Health service managers say they think the proposed changes will provide a better service.

A North Somerset NHS Trust spokesman said: "The unit cannot close until we have alternative arrangements in place for all the users. This is about giving people choice about where they have their respite care."