Mental health patients are urging NHS Tayside not to close a lifeline service in Angus just four years after it was built at a cost of £20m.

The Mulberry Unit, which is part of the Susan Carnegie Centre at Stracathro Hospital, has been earmarked for closure as part of a review of services across the region.

A petition has been set up to oppose its closure and has attracted almost 2000 signatures in two weeks.

Those trying to secure its future say the countryside setting of the unit, plus its recovery-based ethos, makes it a lifeline facility for those dealing with mental health issues.

If closed, the services previously offered at the Mulberry Unit are likely to be moved to Carseview in Dundee, which would be upgraded to accommodate.

Lauren Lampen suffers from depression and a borderline personality disorder.

The 23-year-old from Kirriemuir has been admitted to mental health wards at both the Mulberry Unit and Carseview in Dundee a number of times.

She said: "Mulberry is beautiful. It's set in the country. Mulberry is very recovery-based. It's been a place of safety for me many times.

"Carseview is quite condensed, what I can only describe as what you'd expect a wartime bunker to be like. It feels like a holding place until you feel safe enough to go home. It's not recovery-focused."

Jenny Laird, who suffers from an eating disorder, set up the petition.

She said: "I just do not believe that it [the closure] should be happening at all, as many other people do.

"I know a lot of people that have tried to get help and they've ended up in Carseview, or police cells or not believed and suicide is a very real risk so it's cutting intensive care really, essentially."

NHS Tayside said the case to cut the number of adult psychiatric sites is a clinical one.

The health board said medical and nursing staffing on three locations is not sustainable and this poses a significant risk to patients.

An NHS Tayside spokeswoman said: "Board members were clear that patient safety would always be the priority for any service delivered by NHS Tayside.

"They approved the proposal that General Adult Psychiatry (GAP) inpatient services should be provided from one or two locations and made it clear that there was further work to be done to look at all options and engage widely with service users and carers, staff and communities.

"There will now be a round of further engagement as requested by the board. Board members also agreed that there was no decision on which location or locations would provide GAP inpatient services at this time."

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