CHILDREN'S centres will never be safe from closure until a long term answer to protect them from council cutbacks is found, campaigners have said.

Parents and councillors say the "vital" services should not be put at risk every year when city council officers look at how to make savings in the budget for each forthcoming year.

It comes after the Labour administration at Brighton and Hove City Council announced plans to cut the number of children’s centres next year from 12 to seven. It is less than half a year after a last-minute budget deal - brokered by the party - saved four from closure.

On Monday councillors approved a three month consultation so people could voice their thoughts on the cuts to this part of the budget which, if approved, would be cut back by £846,000 amid a bid to save £13.5 million over the next four years.

The Brighton Children's Centres Campaign, supported by more than 600 parents, condemned this and claimed children would be "left behind". The group urged people tell the council how they feel and sign a petition.

Green councillor Alex Phillips said the idea was "short-sighted" and will affect people "right at the start of their lives". She thinks other parts of the council’s budget, like money set aside to attract businesses to book events in the city, should be used for the "vital" children's services instead.

Chelsea Robinson, 23, of Carden Avenue, lives two minutes from the Hollingbury and Patcham children’s centre, where she takes her daughters Brooke, nearly four, and Isabelle, who is two on Friday. It is at risk and if it closes she will have to take two buses to the nearest centre.

She said the cuts were "ridiculous" and if they went ahead it would be a disaster for parents.

She added: "Making people with little money travel further to get to a centre will not work and people will miss out. The centres are so important to help parents who need support."

Stay-at-home father of twins Tony Symonds, who runs a toddler’s group in Hangleton, said an alternative could be training parent volunteers to run the centres.

Rather than fighting cuts for a second year running, he thinks this could be a long term solution to the problem.

Mr Symonds said: “I would fight tooth and nail because they have helped me no end but the figures are just so huge that this is a better option than fighting against something that is going to happen. The services aren’t going to be like they are now but they can be retained by starting up parent-led groups."

Others think the council could give charities the reins in running the centres so they would be responsible their own fundraising and funding.

But Claire Jacobs, a single mother and social worker, thinks the ideas will only work in principle and not in practice.

The 31-year-old, of Durham Close, Brighton, whose son Noah is nearly four, said: “In reality it still does not guarantee the centres will be safe in the long term. Charities still have their own financial problems. The council still needs to take responsibility. Why doesn’t it prioritise these necessary services over tourism?"

Councillor Tom Bewick, chairman of the children, young people and skills committee, said the council was facing difficult decisions which no-one wanted to make but “doing nothing is simply no longer an option”. He insisted children who needed help the most would continue to receive this.

The consultation closes on Sunday, December 20 and a decision will be made in January. To respond visit brighton-hove.gov.uk/cc-consultation.