Campaigners battling to save Sure Start centres across Hampshire have today staged a demonstration in the New Forest.

About a dozen placard-waving protesters gathered outside Lyndhurst Community Centre to voice their anger at plans to axe the centre and replace them with a smaller number of district hubs.

Parents say they will have to travel too far to access vital services if the plans are approved by the county council later this year.

Mums were joined by county councillor David Harrison, a member of the Liberal Democrat opposition group.

He said: "It's really important that we have gathered here today to show support for Sure Start centres not just here in the New Forest but across Hampshire.

"The centres provide a really valuable service for parents and children.

"All the evidence is that if people get the support they need at an early stage all manner of social problems and costs can be prevented at a later stage.

"Privately, Conservative councillors have told me that they have severe misgivings about the proposed closure of so many Sure Start centres.

"I'm therefore hoping that this turns out to be a genuine consultation exercise, not just a case of going through the motions."