WALLINGFORD'S children's centre could be saved from closure by the town council, it has emerged.

This month 44 children's centres in Oxfordshire were given a lifeline when Oxfordshire County Council revealed funding would be extended to March next year, instead of being axed in September to save £6m, but their long-term future remains uncertain.

Wallingford Town Council led an initiative to build the £300,000 children's centre in Wigod Way and it opened in 2014, also providing a base for the town’s youth club.

The building is leased to the county council so charity Action for Children can run services on its behalf, but now the town council wants to end the lease and take it back.

Town mayor Lynda Atkins said: "We have been talking to officers at County Hall about the town council taking the building back.

"If we have day-to-day control of the building we can think broadly about what we should do.

"There are covenants on the building which say it has to be used for services for children and families but that is a broad category and does not necessarily mean we have to run a children's centre there.

"The first step would be to get the building in town council control and then start up a group to consider the best course of action."

Ms Atkins added that there was a break clause in the contract with the county council which would allow the county council to hand back the lease on April 1.

She said the town council would not be able to afford the £250,000 annual cost of running the children's centre as it is at present and would need to try "a different approach".

The charity Action for Children currently runs services on behalf of the county council.

Ms Atkins added: "I would like to continue to provide some services for families and children in Wallingford but the town council could not take over from Action for Children as it provides services for a wider area than just Wallingford."

Melinda Tilley, the county council's cabinet member for children, education and families, confirmed discussions regarding the lease were taking place.

She said: "We would like to talk to the town council about how we could help them provide universal services such as breastfeeding clinics, stay and play and music sessions."

Action for Children has not yet commented.

Under current proposals all 44 of the county's children's centres and seven early intervention hubs will be replaced with eight 'children and family centres', used by a new £12m service for children and young people aged up to 19.

The new centres would be at Banbury, Bicester, Abingdon, Didcot and Witney, with three in Oxford at Rose Hill, Barton and Blackbird Leys.