Break charity's Rainbow Holiday Centre in Sheringham is to close three months earlier than expected.

The centre's 30 staff were told today that Rainbow, once the charity's flagship, will shut on October 1. It had been hoped to keep it open until January next year.

The centre, on Hooks Hill Road, has been providing holidays for adults and children with learning and physical disabilities for nearly 40 years since it opened in 1973.

A spokesman said despite Break stepping up its efforts to fill places, 'demand in the marketplace has reduced' and so charity trustees had taken the business decision to close in the autumn.

Break chief executive Chris Hoddy said, 'We are very disappointed at having to bring this decision forward but we have a duty to ensure that Break remains financially efficient in these difficult times'.

The charity said changing times meant Break was focusing on other areas of un-met need for vulnerable children, young people and families and in the past six months Break had bought and refurbished two new children's homes, in Thetford and March, accommodating eight young people.

Last November Break had also launched a 'therapeutic fostering service' to provide much-needed family life for teenagers unable to live with their own families.

Break would offer support and guidance to regular guests and help them find alternative holiday providers, said a spokesman.

When Rainbow's closure was first announced, last August, Mr Hoddy said social and economic changes had seen a fall in the number of parents seeking a holiday for their children at Rainbow, which cost �770,000 a year to run.

Over the previous two years 92pc of those staying at the centre, which catered for 10 guests at a time, had been adults.