TENSIONS ran high as angry parents were told they would have to take disabled children from Harpenden to Maple Cross for respite care.

Parents, who use the respite service provided by Mencap at Stairways in Douglas Road, were invited to attend a council meeting on Tuesday morning and refused to believe the new provision in West Hyde was the only alternative Hertfordshire County Council could provide.

Early this year the county council decided as part of its Aiming Higher programme to decommission three of its respite services, including Stairways which will be phased out in 2011.

This means families who use the service would be forced to travel further to give their disabled child a short break. During the meeting a county council representative met Stairways service users to talk about the council’s role in the transition.

She said all parents would be spoken to individually about what their needs are and what they want.

In a statement released about the changes earlier this month, Jane Pitman, lead member for children's services at the county council, said: “There is a lot of change ahead and I know that this could be an unsettling time for the young people and their families.

“But county council officers are working hard to make sure that the new arrangements are put in place with as little disruption as possible.”

However one parent, Nick Latham, of Harpenden whose severely disabled 12-year-old son Freddie uses Stairways for six hours twice a month, says the only option in his mind is to stay with the Mencap service.

He said: “A couple of weeks ago we were told of the new location in West Hyde near Maple Cross.

“It's just not a go for us. We are concerned with the little respite we get, the travelling would be too much.

“They have said all the way through they want to give us choice but I don't think they have done that.”

The two new residential short break units will be at The Pines in Hertford and a unit in West Hyde.

Do you use Stairways in Harpenden? What do you think about the change? Tell us below.