A number of community facilities, services and activities have been disrupted as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. 

Basildon Council have announced the alterations in their latest update, in a bid to to prioritise their work to support the most vulnerable in the community and those most at risk from the impact of coronavirus.

The customer service centre at the Basildon Centre will be closed temporarily on Saturday mornings. It remains open from 9am to 5pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and from 10am to 5pm Wednesday.

From tomorrow (March 20), council-run activity centres (including the George Hurd, The Place and Laindon Day Centre) will close.

Services for vulnerable people operating from The Place in Pitsea, such as the food bank, will continue.

Facilities at Wat Tyler Country Park will close but the park will remain open and the bowls centre in Gloucester Park will close.

Emergency repairs and maintenance for council tenants together with external works that do not require access to individual homes will continue as normal.

Non-urgent planned works to homes will stop from the end of this week, but waste and recycling services will run as normal.

Starting Monday, council meetings will be cancelled. The council will be making arrangements to ensure that urgent decisions are taken by a cross-party group of councillor, and more detail on this is expected to be issued in due course.

The council have reassured they will continue to follow government guidance and will make any necessary amendments to services as appropriate.

Council Leader Councillor Gavin Callaghan said: "I want to reassure people that Basildon Council is prioritising support for vulnerable individuals and businesses.

"We are making decisions each day to balance the needs to maintain essential services and support those most in need, while following public health guidance to protect the public and staff against infection from coronavirus.

"Inevitably though, given the scale of the public health challenge we are facing, we are being forced to change or close some services for a period.

"We are working hard to be ready to swiftly deliver the support for individuals and businesses announced by the government and are standing by for further guidance to allow us to act on this.

"Council staff are identifying those most in need and maintaining regular contact with them and we are making sure we are paying all our suppliers immediately on invoice so that we do not add to their cash flow problems.

"Clearly government advice is emerging daily and we will continue to keep people informed as the situation develops."