A cost-cutting move by Barnet Council, which will force three blind people out of work and into benefits, has been described as heartless' and disgusting.' The council is planning to cut an £18,000 annual grant to charities which allow the trio all registered blind to work at workshops, maintaining their independence.

Jitendra Depala, 43, of Lanacre Avenue, Colindale; Yvonne Ugu, in her forties, from Hendon; and Ashley Perce, 33, formerly of Colindale but now living in Barking, all look set to be made redundant from their £12,000-a-year factory jobs, if the council decides to cut the funding at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Mr Depala, who has put together mechanical parts for companies like British Gas and Guinness at a factory in Willesden for 16 years, said: "As a blind person, if I lose my job I would have to put demands on the council claiming for benefits, asking for the services to help me out. I feel like the council is taking my job and my independence. It is very sad if you have been working for 16 years and not claiming any benefits."

The cut would make Barnet the first London borough to slash the service, according to Joe Mann, national secretary of the National League of the Blind and Disabled, who has represented the three in discussions with the council.

"If Barnet has got a problem, if the problem is money, rather than cut the money, which will a savage effect, let's look at another relationship with the factories," he said.

The factory workshops are run by Action for Blind People, Greater Welfare for the Blind and the Royal Society for the Blind, and are only profitable thanks to council grants. Barnet's decision to remove funding would force the charities to make the three redundant.

Annie Babb, a representative of the trio's Community union which works with Ms Ugu, believes the council will end up spending more money on services if it cuts the grant.

"It is just disgusting, people are going to lose their jobs," she said. "If they lose their jobs it will cost the council more. They will have to send out people to give them help, maybe meals on wheels.

"Yvonne will be on the dole for the rest of her life. If she loses her job, she will not be seeing anyone. She could become very lonely."

Tracy Perce, Mr Perce's wife, said that, if her husband loses his job, they may have to sell their home. "The worst case scenario is we might have to sell our house and move somewhere cheaper so we haven't got a mortgage," she said. "You do not want to be on the dole, you want to be independent."

Dr Ollie Natelson, a representative for Barnet Borough Sight Impaired who is registered blind, said the decision was heartless'.

"One would like to think that Barnet Council would treat people with honesty and decency," he said.

A council spokesman said: "The proposal has come up because we have reached the end of the consultation process looking into how to go forward with this. This has been discussed with the service users and their representatives."