Elderly people across the district may soon find themselves unable to got a hot meal.

Essex County Council has voted to close its Colchester depot, run by meals on wheels company Sodexo.

This means the council will have to find another way to get meals to 120 people in 11 key areas, including Halstead, Earls Colne, Sible Hedingham and and Bulmer.

Sodexo says it is confident it will still be able to provide meals to about 90 per cent of the people who use it by delivering from the remaining two depots in Basildon and Enfield.

The decision had to be made because Sodexo said it could not continue to run the service at the current cost of £4.79, plus VAT.

One of the options is to pay a separate provider to deliver frozen meals in those areas and get other home care workers to visit people in their homes to heat the meal.

There are also tentative plans to work with lunch and casserole clubs to help prepare meals for the most vulnerable in society.

The closure will mean the county council would save £278,000 a year on the cost of the contract.

Chair of Halstead Residents’ Association, Jackie Pell, said: “People rely on the service.

“The people who use the service look forward to when someone comes in to deliver the food.

“Some people aren’t safe with cookers.

“The council has a moral duty to provide the hot meals.

“I do have some faith they will find a solution.”