PARENTS say losing an East Finchley children's centre would be a “huge blow” for their community.

Staff at centres across the borough were last week handed notices warning they may face redundancy as Barnet Council seeks to shrink the Sure Start centre offer as budget cuts bite.

In January consultation will start on which centres will remain open, but opposition councillors fear the council will only leave a handful to deal with people who have specialist needs.

One centre under threat is Newstead in Fallows Close, which was rated “outstanding” by Ofsted inspectors in 2008 and has recently undergone a £1m overhaul.

The centre provides a range of services including a nursery for 26 children and several support groups for parents, designed to help child development.

Jenny Borst, whose son goes to the centre, said its closure would be a real problem for many parents.

She said: “This centre provides help and support for parents from a range of backgrounds. There are a lot of parents round here who rely on it and there are no other services like this available.

“It's not only a respite for some parents but they also offer courses for people to get new skills while your child is being looked after. It really does change people's lives.

“They say they are going to focus funding on the most needy areas, and this is a financially mixed area so it may not survive the cuts.”

Councillor Alison Moore, a Labour member for the ward, said any closures would be “short sighted” and could jeopardise children's educations.

She added: “These centres are really just starting to have an affect and positively impact children's lives. Kids who go to these centres start school more confident and will achieve better.

“The Conservative administration says it is being used as cheap middle class childcare but that's not true.

“There is pressure on primary school places in the borough so it stands to reason there is pressure on nursery places, and this would increase that.

“It also enables a lot of parents to go out to work as their children are looked after, so it would also have an economic affect.”

Parents have now started an online petition to save the centre which can be viewed by visiting www.savenewstead.com.