CHARITY boss Richard Day has resigned as chairman of Accrington Shopmobility after admitting indecent assaults on two disabled women.

The disabled charity, based in Whalley Road, Accrington, closed down last Friday morning hours after a story and opinion column had appeared in the Observer. Equipment was taken away in vans and notices stuck on the shop windows, blaming the Observer for "hounding the committee'' and causing the charity's demise.

The notices added that the committee had decided to close the shop "for the foreseeable future". A committee member answering the door at the shop declined to comment.

Day, 59, of Lowergate Road, Huncoat, continued to run the charity for two weeks after it was revealed he had been given a formal police caution for assaults on two shop volunteers.

Last week Hyndburn's MP Greg Pope described the situation as "completely unsatisfactory" and the Charity Commission said that it would look into his continued employment there.

One of Day's victims said that she hoped the shop, which hired out electric scooters, power chairs and wheelchairs to help disabled people shop in Accrington town centre, would be able to re-open in the future. She said: "I feel sorry over the temporary loss of Accrington's Shopmobility. But it has been founded once and it can be resurrected again."

When first approached for comment, Day claimed that the committee which ran Shop-mobility had initially refused to accept his resignation and said the assaults were accidents. He said he accepted the caution because it was "quicker and easier" than going through the courts, which would have been traumatic for his wife and would have affected the running of the business.

A spokesperson for the Charity Commission said that it would continue to look into the matter, saying: "We have received concerns and we will be contacting the trustees for their comments."

Observer Editor Mervyn Kay said: "We recognise the valuable work done by Shopmobility and had no intention to cause its closure. We merely felt that, having committed indecent assaults on disabled people, Mr Day was not a fit and proper person to run a disabled charity. Surely someone else could have taken over.''