Half of the youth clubs in Kingston could close next year as part of proposed funding cuts to children services in the borough.

Kingston Council is reviewing four of the eight centres run by Achieving for Children (AfC) – the community interest company that runs children services in Kingston and Richmond – including the 30-year-old Searchlight Community Centre.

The announcement comes only a week after Prime Minister David Cameron visited AfC in Richmond and claimed that spending power for councils was on the rise.

Tuesday, December 15: Councils' spending power "going up, not down", says David Cameron, during Achieving for Children visit in Twickenham

Thursday, November 12: Kingston and Richmond's children services Achieving for Children (AfC) overspend by £1.5m in first year

Nicola Dyke, 37, of Lower Marsh Lane, Kingston, takes her children Marcus, 12, and Macie, 10, to the Searchlight centre, which borders Norbiton and New Malden, every week. Marcus has Asperger’s Syndrome – a severe form of autism.

She said: “Obviously it is a big concern for us, especially for Marcus as it is the only place he attends because of his autism.

“One of his needs is to get out in the community. It’s been very, very important, it’s made such a difference with him.

“If you went back two years he would never do the things he can now, he’s just gained so much confidence.”

It was revealed in November that AfC overspent by £1.5m last year, leaving the company with having to make £4m worth of cuts over the next two years.

The council will begin a public consultation into the closure of the centres in January, with the youth clubs possibly closing in March. The names of the three other centres earmarked for closure will also be revealed.

Councillor Eric Humphrey, cabinet member for children’s social care and health, said: “We may not be able to give everybody everything that they want but I am confident that we will continue to provide a very good service – it will just be delivered in a different way.

“We know that these plans will be of concern to many of the young people who currently use the centres but there is huge pressure on Kingston Council as well as every other local authority at present to make savings while finding smarter ways to deliver services, so things have to change.”

A petition has been started by Searchlight members calling on the council to stop the closure of the youth club, claiming it would leave members “distraught”. It has now reached more than 1,000 signatures.

Norbiton councillor Linsey Cottington said: "The council wants to take away one of the very few facilities we have in this area and there are no promises to replace it with a new facility.

“There are no proposals for replacing Searchlight within the local Norbiton community, and using general purpose local facilities is not a satisfactory solution.”

You can sign the petition at change.org/p/kingston-council-help-stop-the-closure-of-the-searchlight-youth-and-community-centre-building