A charity manager said she was stunned that Oxfordshire County Council was failing to honour a contract to provide funding for three disabled children's centres.

As part of a £9m cuts package in social services, agreed by county councillors on Tuesday, a £500,000 annual grant to the centres is being axed.

Parents of about 100 children with severe learning and physical disabilities are now fighting to save Summerfield, in Abingdon, Sycamore House, in Banbury, and the Chilterns Centre, in Henley, which cost £1.1m a year to run.

Carol Lockley, Barnardo's assistant director for children's services, said: "It came as a great shock when we were told, hours before it was made public, that the council was planning to withdraw its contribution." In January last year, the council signed a contract with Barnardo's to provide funding until March 2003. Other funding comes from Barnardo's itself, and a number of other trust funds and donors.

One of the trust funds has been donating £200,000 a year, but it is feared that the money could be lost if the county council's grant is withdrawn.

Miss Lockley added: "We thought we had another 12 months of funding, according to the contract with the council, and we are shocked that councillors are proposing that it does not honour it."

Miss Lockley said the Charity Commission would not find it acceptable for Barnardo's to pay the full £1.1m annual cost of running the three centres. Cllr Neil Fawcett, the council's executive member for learning and culture, said: "All contracts of this type have get-out clauses, because the funding is unpredictable."

He acknowledged that there was a danger that trust fund contributions could be withdrawn if the council failed to make its contribution.

Cllr Keith Mitchell, leader of the council, met parents at Sycamore House on Wednesday to discuss the future.

Yesterday he said it was unlikely that members of the executive board would completely reverse the decision.

But he added that it was possible that some money could be found from other budget areas.

Parents will meet at the Rivermead Rehabilitation Centre, in Oxford, on Wednesday to discuss ways to fight the closures.