A CHILDREN’S centre may be forced to close unless parents start to make the most of the facility.

Upton Primary School took over the Riverboats Children's Centre in December 2016 after the county council slashed £3m from the budget for children’s centres.

A member of staff at the school claims the centre is not currently viable, although the school's head says she does not see it closing during her tenure.

Campaigners reacted to the potential closure by claiming they predicted the damage that would be caused by the cuts.

Shirley Dobbin, a teaching assistant at Upton Primary School, said: “We need to keep it going, if we don’t get people coming in it will have to close.

“If they [parents] lose it then they would have to travel further. At the moment we are in the centre of the community in Upton. We are so lucky to have it.

“We will try to run it as long as we possibly can. But we have to make it viable, there’s salaries to pay, heating and electricity, everything needs to be paid.”

Ms Dobbin added that the centre, in Price’s Lane, Upton, shut in November 2016 as a result of council funding cuts.

Teachers then decided to take over the site, which is attached to the school building, and it reopened in December 2016.

Upton’s pre-school now uses one of the rooms to teach two-year-olds, which has helped reduce disruption for older pupils.

Mrs Julie Wills, headteacher of Upton Primary School, said: "I am passionate in my desire to ensure that the Riverboats Children's Centre continues to flourish and under my leadership do not see it being faced with closure. "We have worked with the local authority since 2016 to ensure the Riverboats Children's Centre stays open. "Our pre-school provision has expanded and we are now open all year round. We have increased the capacity for children aged two to four years and now have eight children in their own designated room, with a potential for a further eight children. "Should numbers continue to rise our maximum pre-school capacity would be 46 children. We are delighted with this positive impact and have worked hard to ensure the success of Riverboats."

The children's centre is used by health visitors, midwives and the National Childbirth Trust.

The facility also contains rooms which can be rented out for meetings and parties.

Siani Driver, head of Worcestershire Mums Network, said: “We are sorry to hear this is happening, sadly we predicted that once the children’s centres were taken over by schools they would suffer, because schools already have a great deal of pressure in terms of staffing and budgets.

“It was a thriving centre before the changes last year, I’d be interested to discover exactly why things had changed.”

County councillor Andy Roberts, cabinet member for children and families, said: “Riverboats Children’s Centre is managed by Upton-upon-Severn CofE School and Pre-School. We fully support their delivery of a variety of services for children and families in the local community and their desire to fully utilise the children’s centre building through appropriate lettings.”