DEVON County Council is planning to close the Kingsbridge Children's Centre but retain the services as outreach.

Devon County Councillor Julian Brazil told Kingsbridge Town Council on Tuesday night that the children's centre was under threat of closure and the consultation period begins at the end of the week.

The county council consulted last year on the children's centre and have made a plan to keep the Totnes centre as a hub with two link centres in South Brent and Dartmouth.

Cllr Brazil said: 'I have been reassured the service will be retained but will become more targeted to the most vulnerable'.

The mayor, Cllr Wayne Grills, interrupted, saying: 'But we were assured that pot holes would be filled' and Cllr Tom Coulthard added, 'and we were assured youth centres would be retained. There hasn't been a council youth worker in the area for over a year'.

Cllr Grills agreed, saying: 'Isn't it interesting when austerity starts affecting the most vulnerable people.'

Cllr Brazil continued, saying that the county council will be looking to host services in other community buildings such as the library or Quay House. He said the contract will go out to tender for providers, but nothing will happen until April 2016.

He said: 'We can either battle to keep it open, which in my opinion will be very tough, or look to provide those services in other ways.'

Cllr Grills was obviously angry at the news, saying: 'They can't just keep cutting, cutting, cutting. It beggars belief. It's cutting away all the crucial services that people need.

'Keeping Totnes, Dartmouth and South Brent, but what about Kingsbridge? What about Salcombe?

'Are we just to be left in a black hole?'

Cllr Brazil agreed, but said that 'the cuts are being foisted upon us from central government. The county council are cut to the bone now. No one wants to do this.'

Cllr Rufus Gilbert suggested this should be an issue for the new town council to take on, and that discussions should be delayed until the next council meeting. He thanked Cllr Brazil for an 'honest report'.

Cllr Brazil said after the meeting, that the councils, both town and county, need to look for the best deal and needed to concentrate on making sure services were retained, using targeted services for the most vulnerable, and bringing services to people, rather than requiring them to travel.

He said: 'We need to stand together. Central government want us [local councils] to be at each other's throats.

'The election is coming up. If you vote for a government who want to keep these cuts, then you're saying that you agree with them.

'I want to organise a meeting with members of the town council with the people who use the children's centre, to find out what they want.

'We're going to lose the building, but what do they need? Then we can go from there.'