Angry mothers will march on Southend Council offices tomorrow to protest over staff cuts at a popular family resource centre.

Up to 150 placard-waving parents, many with their children in tow, will descend on the Civic Centre in Victoria Avenue at around 1.15pm to confront the council's social services boss Jane Held.

They will demand answers about the future of social services in Southend and call for council officers and councillors to visit the Marigold Family Resource Centre and talk to the people it provides a lifeline for.

The centre, in Avenue Road, Westcliff, offers counselling and runs courses for parents to work through problems like child abuse, post-natal depression, losing a child or having a child with behavioural problems.

It also acts as a drop-in-centre for mums needing advice or someone to listen, and can help teach effective parenting and assertiveness.

Councillors voted at the end of last month to axe 17 full-time jobs at the centre as part of budget cuts for this year.

The centre has been run by 11 full-time and 11 part-time staff, including a team manager, two social workers, six nursery officers and nine assistant social workers.

Mother-of-two Ayesha Ahmed, 25, is a co-organiser of the protest and has relied on the centre for help in overcoming her five-year-old son's behavioural problems.

She said parents want to know what services will be provided in place of the centre.

She said: "I can understand them having to make cuts but they have to replace what we are losing.

"It is not enough to simply say there are lots of mothers and toddlers groups in the town as they cannot give the same kind of support as the Marigold Centre."

Ayesha added: "These groups cannot help mothers with post-natal depression or those that have lost a child, and there are not enough health visitors to come round to your home every week and give a shoulder to cry on.

"With the staff cuts mums will not be able to simply drop into the centre or phone for a chat, but will have to make an appointment, which is no use when you are at the end of your tether."

Anyone wishing to lend their support should meet at the Marigold Centre at 12.30pm, ready to start the march on the council offices at 1pm.

Organisers are expecting representatives of health union Unison to be present to support their protest.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.