Needy children in the county could be hit by cuts in social service budgets.

There are currently about 300 children on the child protection register and a further 470 in childrens' homes in Oxfordshire.

But Government cuts in the amount of money given to the county council mean that work done by social workers to prevent the numbers increasing is coming under growing strain.

The department, which is axing 10m from its budget over the next two years, has been forced to cut the number of social workers working with children from 63 to 49, a reduction of 14. The losses call into question social workers' ability to deal with an increasing workload and may affect their ability to stop children becoming at risk in the future.

Liberal Democrat social services spokesman Janet Godden said: "I find it very disturbing that the Government is running the risk of the consequences of having more and more children without proper care.

"Without the resources to put in place preventative work, and allow time for it to have affect, it is impossible for social workers to care for children already at risk."