A RESPITE centre which has offered a lifeline to disabled children and their parents for 25 years is set to close.

The 21 children who use the Eastcombe Avenue Respite Centre, Charlton, will now be turfed out of their "second home" and sent out of the borough for an equivalent service.

Greenwich branch secretary for general workers' union the GMB Pete Murphy says the 11 staff at the centre did not know it was to close until concerned parents told them.

The council made a decision to shut the doors on the service and sell off the house at a cabinet meeting on March 21, before social services issued a letter to parents on April 10.

Michelle Oates is one of the parents against the closure. Her 16-year-old son Michael has Down's Syndrome and severe learning difficulties.

She said: "The staff at the centre are like an extended family.

"Michael stays there for a week every two months and goes for tea their once a week.

"All the children get along and love to see each other. Now they will be split up and sent out of the borough. It will devastate them."

Greenwich Council says it is closing the centre because it costs more than £450,000 a year to fund it half the budget for disabled children.

But mother-of-three Mrs Oates, who works for Greenwich Mencap, says the council stopped referrals to the centre three years ago, so the number using it has fallen from about 60 to 21.

She added: "It obviously looks more expensive to run now the number of children using it has fallen by two-thirds."

Greenwich Council says it will consult fully with parents and carers before deciding on a closing date.

A spokesman admitted staff had not been formally consulted about the closure but had been aware of the "uncertainty over the future of the unit for some time".

She added the centre is not suitable for wheelchair users due to narrow corridors and it would cost £27,000 to address "minor structural problems" and "internal improvements".

This cost would lead to a reduction in services provided to disabled children and their families in the borough, the spokesman said.