BEXLEY Council has been accused of a "stab in the back" over its decision to appoint a new group to run a Slade Green community centre.

The Howbury Centre is undergoing an £8.5m regeneration leading the council to select one organisation to run the whole site.

Eco Communities in Lewisham got the go ahead to take over, in conjunction with Bexley Village Community Library operators Greener Bexley, beating the rival bid by the Howbury Friends.

Members of the Slade Green-based community organisation, which has run activities at the centre for five years, are furious at the council cabinet's decision.

They point to Eco Communities’ lack of local connections, warn they may put prices up and have applied for a judicial review of the decision.

Howbury Friends community outreach worker Mel Hudson said: "They have stabbed us in the back on this and we are not happy.

"We have saved the council thousands of pounds, kept people off the streets and run all these activities and yet we have been told we cannot run the centre."

Childminder Gayna Saill, 42, of Westfield Road, Barnehurst, takes groups of under fives to Howbury twice a week, visiting the library or booking them in for a class at £3.50 a time.

She said: "These people put so much into the community and it’s not like they earn any money out of it - it’s a passion. It’s just a shame the council can’t appreciate that and have pushed it aside."

Eco Communities hopes to take over the Howbury Centre in September.

Director Gavin Dunn said: "We have a good track record of running local community projects including libraries and centres offering a range of good quality services and activities at affordable prices.

"We would like to form really good bonds with local groups on the area and we can't do that without working alongside them."

A Bexley Council spokeswoman said: "The selection of Greener Bexley and Eco Communities as the preferred bidders followed a transparent, rigorous and structured selection process.

"It was designed to ensure the very best value for council tax payers and to make sure bidders have the foresight and sustainability to run such a large and important community project for the foreseeable future."