UNCERTAINTY hangs over the future of a former youth hostel and environmental studies centre in Abergavenny, which closed two months ago.

Mulberry House Hostel opened in 2008 and took up part of The Old Convent at Pen y Pound.

It was used as an environmental studies centre offering field trips for schools and also as a youth hostel, providing accommodation for thousands of backpackers, travellers and holiday-makers from around the world, until its closure at the end of March when it was boarded up.

The three businesses operating under the umbrella of Mulberry House were the Ty’r Morwydd Environmental Studies Centre (a registered company and charity) Mulberry House as a conference centre and Mulberry House Hostel which ran the Youth Hostel.

The board of Trustees took the difficult decision to close, blaming a reduction in visits from schools and the need for significant investment in a building which the charity did not own.

The building previously housed The Convent run by the Order of St Michael before being taken over by the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) which ran it as a field study centre for inner city children for 30 years.

It was leased by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and became the Ty’r Morwydd environmental studies centre in 1994.

The centre features accommodation, 2,500-volume library with large gardens, communal lounges, classrooms and conference facilities.

A spokeswoman for the London-based council said it is currently reviewing options for the future of the site.