A “vital” children’s will be closing despite hundreds of people stepping in to try to save it.

There are now fears families and carers living in New Ash Green who can't drive or don't own a car will be unable to access such services in neighbouring towns and villages.

Sevenoaks District Councillor Laura Manston had expressed her concerns over the impact the loss of the village’s children’s centre would have.

Cllr Manston, who represents New Ash Green, told KentOnline: “We worked really hard to save our children’s centre.

“I know how valuable this asset was to the community so I’m devastated that we will be losing it and very concerned about the lack of support and safeguarding there will now be for families and children

“Families and carers who can't drive or don't own a car will be unable to access services from neighbouring towns and villages due to the pretty much non-existent public transport options we have from the village.”

At the start of last year, Kent County Council (KCC) ran a consultation to assess how well-used the services were in the village.

It says it faces “hard financial realities” and must adapt to give families support “in the right way at the right time”, including through a mix of co-locating services.

Green Party councillors Laura Manston, Shani Manamperi and Mark Lindop had started a petition which ended up getting more than 400 signatures by the end of the consultation on March 26.

Laura added: “We organised a protest at the beginning of February where members of the community held up banners to show their support for the centre and we attended the outreach meeting with KCC to highlight how much we need the centre.

“We did that in order to show how much the centre was valued by the community, and after that it was up to the council to make their assessment.”

However, it has since been announced the centre will be closing.

The mum, whose oldest child is now 11, used the centre regularly between 2012 and 2018 and says it used to have a full calendar of activities available.

The centre in Meadow Lane provided services from weigh-ins to baby massage and messy play.

It also offered information, advice and support to parents and provided integrated childcare and early learning, health services, family support and parental outreach.

Laura said the centre used to be open every day but that the services have been “cut one by one” over the years.

“It’s going to put our village in a very needy place...”

She added: “KCC have cut the buses and the community wardens. With all those cuts together I think it’s going to put our village in a very needy place.

“What we will be doing is speaking to the council about whether any of the services they ran from that venue can be run from a different location such as the youth centre.

“We need to see if we can carry on some of the services.”

In December, Kent County Councillor for Sevenoaks rural north east David Brazier mistakenly told villagers the centre had been saved. However, this turned out to be an error.

He said: “The closure is covered by a formal decision in respect of the Kent Communities Programme which seeks to make savings by rationalising the schedule of buildings used for community services, including youth and those services traditionally carried out in children’s centres.

“I have argued against the closure of the New Ash Green facility as the village is somewhat isolated from major towns and the alternative in Gravesend is difficult to access without private transport, but the option to close it and other buildings was taken.

“I am the local member but do not have decision-making authority.”

A KCC spokesperson said: “The planned closure follows an extensive review to ensure we can continue providing community services in various ways to everyone who needs them – despite the pressures of stretched budgets and soaring costs.

“We know residents value our services and change can be difficult.

“But we have to adapt to the hard financial realities and evolve so it’s not all about buildings that are expensive to run and maintain.

“Focusing on giving families support in the right way at the right time, including through a mix of co-locating services – as we already do with children’s services in libraries – joined-up Family Hubs, outreach and online advice will save over £7million.

“It means we can keep doing things – just differently.

“As soon as timings for the centre’s closure have been finalised we will be updating everyone who uses it and setting out where, and how, they can continue to get support.”