PARENTS have reacted with sadness at the prospect of 13 “lifeline” children’s centres in Bolton being axed.

Yesterday, we revealed the council’s plans to cut the number of centres it operates in the borough from 18 to 7 in a bid to save £1.5 million.

The proposals are now being consulted on and if they are rubber stamped in October — it will mean some parents will not have access to some crucial community services for their young children in their local area.

One of the centres under threat of closure is the Kearsley Children’s Centre in Birch Road.

Yesterday morning, families who regularly use the centre said they were saddened to hear about its potential closure.

Sarah Smith, of Kearsley, uses the centre regularly with her son Sebastian, aged three, who has special needs.

She said: “We come to a class here every Wednesday which helps Sebastian learn everyday things like brushing his teeth and interacting with other children — it is a real lifeline for us and the staff are fantastic.

“We have been coming to this particular class for the past five weeks and we have really seen a difference in Sebastian.

“I read the story today and was really sad to see that Kearsley was one of the ones that might be closing — I think it will be a real shame.”

Another mother who has just started using the Kearsley centre, Rachel Thornton, said it will be difficult to take her two-year-old son Elias elsewhere.

She added: “What they are planning to do will take away that flexibility for parents who can come to centres nearest to them and access services when they need to.”

Dad Matthew Burke brings his three-year-old Lucy to the centre for help with some of the issues caused by her autism.

He said: “We were referred to this centre and it has really helped in terms of getting Lucy up to the level she needs to be at to start school.”

He added: “If centres like this close, then the gap between where Lucy is and where she needs to be will increase and that cost will have to be met further down the line in terms of her education.”

Bolton Council’s deputy leader, Cllr Linda Thomas has blamed swingeing government cuts for the proposed closures.

She said: “It saddens me that we have reached this point and with more cuts to come we are getting down to the bone with vital services for young people.”

Opposition councillors claim the authority’s large reserves could be used to plug the funding hole.

Tory Cllr Bob Allen pointed out that in the council’s latest accounts it states that there is £204 million of “usable reserves”. Labour has argued that this is for one-off funding, but Cllr Allen insisted: “Even if you did that for five years, it wouldn’t make a huge dent in the reserves.”

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