A LIFELINE rehabilitation programme for people with brain injuries has been scrapped.

The Momentum Skills Pathways and Fresh Start programmes in Glasgow - which help people who have suffered from strokes, brain haemorrhages or suffered head injuries in attacks and accidents - are to shut at the end of June after city council bosses withdrew funding.

Six employees will be made redundant and around 25 service-users will be left without the services, the only programmes of their kind in Glasgow.

The support groups also help people with mental health problems, including anxiety, by building confidence, improving physical stamina and helping them find work placements.

Staff were distreaaed when told the services were to shut and they would be out of work from June 30.

Service users have been left angry and upset by the decision and some say the news has brought back feelings of anxiety were getting help to deal with.

David Reid, 26, of Sandyhills, started on the Pathways programme in August last year after suffering from encephalitis, which causes brain inflammation.

He said: "I'm angry not just for me, but for the future service users too who will need help. It is a feeling of hurt. The emotions we're trying to work on at the sessions, like anger, worry and stress, that's all the feelings which are coming back."

James Gow, 40, from Maryhill, said: "The Southern General has the most advanced neurological department in Europe, so why is the city cutting the after-care services which are needed to go along with it? It just doesn't make any sense."

A council spokesman said the reason for the funding cuts was that the service was "failing to help people into employment".

"Social work cannot justify continued investment of significant funds into organisations which fail to produce required results for people," said a spokesman..

"The majority of the people were referred … from health services which can offer alternative employability services."