Campaigners are fearful that the temporary closure of a mental health facility could pave the way to permanently shut the unit after it was deemed unsafe.

Naseberry Court in Merriam Close, Highams Park, will be shut down by North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT) and services will be relocated to Goodmayes over the next two months.

A consultation will then begin on closing the facility as NELFT proposes make the change permanent.

A spokeswoman for the trust said the decision was made after an incident last December when they had to send specialist staff from their centre in Goodmayes to treat a patient.

Dr Steve Feast, executive medical director at the trust, added that Naseberry is “isolated” from their psychiatric emergency team and intensive care unit.

He added: “The design of the unit makes safe and consistent observations difficult.”

But depression sufferer Christine Robinson, 50, of Carr Road in Walthamstow, who visits the adjacent Greenthorne Unit every two weeks to see her psychiatrist, said the move would isolate patients.

She said: “Family members will find the journey very tough to make, it’s three bus rides away.”

She also claimed that staff and patients at Greenthorne were concerned that NELFT is trying to sell the land to save money.

She said staff have told her those plans involve moving staff from Greenthorne to join the drug and alcohol team at Larkswood Centre in Forest Road, Walthamstow, where people like herself would now go.

Ms Robinson said: “It’s pouring a pint into a half pint bottle, there won’t be enough space. It’s so scary this could all go, it’s a lifeline for people.

“They say it’s not safe for patients but there’s been an influx of nurses, this is ridiculous.”

Keep Our NHS Public campaigner Jim Fagan added: “This is a service for vulnerable people but they’re effectively closing it before the consultation begins. It will rubber stamp a decision taken without any input from those it will affect.”

The future of the facility was thrown into question last August when a member of a committee monitoring health services in Redbridge and Waltham Forest claimed the move had been mooted back then.

NELFT only admitted it was considering its options. The Guardian has approached it for comment.