Parents are angry a new £600,000 school canteen will reduce vital after-school childcare.

Dozens of parents staged a protest outside Downs Junior School in Brighton yesterday over plans to replace the school's outdated canteen.

Brighton and Hove City Council has allocated £600,000 to replace the canteen building from its capital budget.

But parents said the development would mean a reduction in the number of places at the after-school and holiday child care club Action Station and they will have nowhere to take their children while building work is under way.

Brenda Pollack, whose son Ben, seven, goes to Downs Infant School and attends the after-school club at the junior school, said: "We haven't been consulted on this at all.

"It's a nightmare for working parents. We've only just been told the club will close at the end of this term and we are all wondering what to do with our children while we are at work."

The existing canteen consists of three small rooms and caters for about 50 children a day at the after-school club.

The new canteen will have one large room but because of the way Ofsted limits numbers based on space and layout, only about 30 children will be able to attend.

Building work is expected to begin in May, subject to planning approval, and be finished by the autumn.

Ms Pollack said: "It's ridiculous to close the current club when they haven't even got planning permission for the building.

"I thought the Government was trying to increase childcare for working parents but this is the complete opposite."

She said other after-school clubs were full or too far away for families to walk to.

Headteacher John Vousden was unavailable for comment yesterday.

A spokesman from Brighton and Hove City Council said parents could make use of a range of other after-school activities at the school, including football, dance, yoga, karate, French, orchestra, and gardening clubs.

He said: "The school regrets that during the construction work it will be impossible to offer alternative provision for Action Station on the site as all possible areas are in use every evening.

"In the meantime, the school is working very closely with Action Station and the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership to ensure that, wherever possible, suitable childcare arrangements can be maintained for as long as possible."

He said the school had not renewed its contract with Action Station but the company could submit a tender for the service in the new canteen.