Mothers in East Barnet are celebrating the incoming restoration of their mother-and-baby clinic, promised by the NHS just in time for Christmas.

East Barnet Health Centre was shut down in June 2014 for refurbishment and later reopened without its decades-old clinic for new parents, sparking outrage in the area.

Following a campaign by mothers committed to restoring the service, the NHS Central London Community Healthcare (CLCH) trust has announced the clinic will return to East Barnet “by Christmas”.

Local mother Charlotte Gosling, who started a petition signed by over 300 people, was among the parents forced to make costly and distant trips to Vale Drive clinic in High Barnet as an alternative.

Upon learning the news of the imminent reinstatement of services, she said she was “over the moon” at the news.

The mother of two, including one-year-old Isabelle, said: “I just can’t wait to get to get back into our much-loved centre and begin re-establishing our community of mothers.

“I would like to thank everyone who signed and shared the petition and supported the campaign, especially our councillor Philip Cohen and his colleagues for all their support.”

Nia Panayiotopoulos, another mother who supported the campaign, expressed hope word would spread to local mothers so the centre would get plenty of use when the clinic opens.

She said: “We need to make sure the community know it is back and what services the baby clinic will offer – if it is not busy there’s always the chance it could be closed again.

“Mums with young children are often isolated and worried or unaware of checks their children should have and now the clinic will be up-and-running again there are greater opportunities to ensure this changes.”

READ MORE: Mothers, with support of councillors, push petition to reopen mother and baby clinic at East Barnet Health Centre

Labour councillor for East Barnet Philip Cohen had been a long-time supporter of Ms Gosling’s campaign and spoke up for the mother’s needs in council meetings and correspondence with the NHS.

The CLCH said to him the clinic was an “unfunded cost pressure” causing difficulties with the leasing agreements on the building.

Cllr Cohen said: “This is great news for the mothers of East Barnet and vindicates their decision to run a public campaign for the reinstatement of the baby clinic.

“But the trust's description of the missing services as an ‘un-funded cost pressure’ shows the worrying extent to which financial considerations are now governing the way the NHS is run.”

The CLCH explained the clinic was shut down 18 months ago in order for the landlord to “undertake extensive repair works”, saying services were available at “alternative locations” for the time being.

An unnamed spokesperson said: “The teams have been working extremely hard and we're pleased to announce that we've now signed the agreement for re-occupation.

“District nursing and health visiting services will be back up and running at the health centre by Christmas, with tissue viability and respiratory services following in January.”