BASILDON Tory councillors backed a motion to bring back a hot meals service to the George Hurd elderly day centre that they scrapped.

The Ukip motion to the council called for the council to “welcome a robust business case from any organisation to provide hot meals at the George Hurd Centre” and asked for council funding to cover their start-up costs.

It came after the Basildon Council-run service in day centres across the borough, including the George Hurd in Audley Way, Basildon, was scrapped by the Conservatives last summer.

It was carried after being backed by UkipP, Conservative and Lib Dem councillors.

However, Labour members, put in their manifesto before the local elections in May that they would “reinstate the hot meals service for local pensioners” abstained on the vote.

Byron Taylor, Basildon Labour group leader, said: “The motion was a spectacular own goal by UKIP. It did nothing more than maintain the situation we were already in.

“After the Tories axed the meals service they said they would reintroduce it if a business was able to put in a viable bid.

“We also abstained because the motion did not call for the service to be brought back to the centres in Pitsea and Laindon which we also want to see happen.”