CUTS to children's centres across Worcestershire are twice as bad as first feared - with the amount of cash being removed from the service topping £3 million.

For weeks on end angry parents have launched a vociferous campaign over trying to stop Worcestershire County Council reducing spending on children's centres, calling them "a lifeline".

But the Worcester News can today reveal how the full extent of the overall cuts are as deep as 53 per cent - plunging from £6.4 million to £3 million due to a quirk in where the money comes from.

As well as the formal council budget for 32 children's centres, which stands at £4.4 million, bosses have been relying on extra Government funding to 'top up' spending and fulfil its contracts with third party organisations managing each site.

But the Government money, known as the 'Early Intervention Grant', is ending and will not be replaced despite widespread concern from local authorities.

It means the council's own cuts, which equate to nearly £1.5 million, will be hugely exacerbated - with more than £3 million of funds being removed year-on-year and total spending on children's centres going from £6.4 million to just £3 million.

To make matters worse total spending on children's centres, including the Government grant, was £8.5 million back in 2013, meaning it will have plunged 64 per cent since then.

The figures have infuriated the opposition Labour group, which accused the Conservative administration of "misleading" people and trying to conceal the true extent of it.

But the Tory leadership says it could not have been more open about it, pointing to previous warnings the Government top-up was going to end and published documents referring to it.

Some 754 parents have signed a petition against the changes and organised a protest outside County Hall on the widespread belief the cuts were limited to just £1.5 million.

Councillor Peter McDonald, Labour group leader, said: "No matter how much you dress this up, they are taking £3 million out of the service and not the £1.5 million that's been claimed.

"They've been taking money from this reserve fund to top it up and the fact they are no longer willing to do this tells me everything about the principles of the controlling group.

"It's misleading people something terrible, it's disgraceful."

A cabinet report in June revealed how the Government's grant had more than halved since 2013, and since then a 'frequently asked questions' document has been published online referring to it for people taking part in the consultation which runs until August 17.

The document produced to help inform people about the consultation does cite the total budget falling from £8.5 million to £3 million over a four or five year period, saying it is being done to 'manage the reduction in funding we receive from central Government'.

Councillor Marc Bayliss, cabinet member for children and families, said: "We could not have been any clearer - it is not my fault Councillor McDonald was not paying attention when the budget was agreed this year and last year.

"Nothing has been suppressed and nothing has been hidden, despite the attempts of Councillor McDonald and his colleagues to muddy the waters.

"The Early Intervention Grant was something the Government gave to us and we've been eeking it out, we said at the start this was going to go.

"We recognise it's controversial, tough stuff, I realise that - we know the services are well liked and that's why we are working hard with service providers to try and get the best solutions possible."

We can also today reveal a full breakdown of how much money all six districts are going to be left with after the changes kick in.

Worcester's funding will plunge from £1.4 million to £682,231, while in Malvern it will fall from £695,617 to £322,543.

In Wychavon it will shrink from just over £1 million to £488,560 and Wyre Forest funding will fall from £1.28 million to £594,552.

Redditch's will drop from £1.1 million to £554,684 and in Bromsgrove children's centre support will go from £771,076 to £357,530.

All of the spending includes the impact of removing the Early Intervention Grant from Whitehall.

The council says all the contracts signed with service providers are at different points, and are running at slight underspends.

They also say the underspends will contribute to the costs of helping each centre adapt to the changes post-October.

Council bosses say no centres will close, but services face cuts in 18 of the 32 sites once they are taken over by schools or childcare organisations.

* See the frequently asked questions document for yourself HERE.

* View the petition from the Worcestershire Mums Network HERE.