Social workers have vowed to take action to protest over £9m of cuts in social services spending.

Conservative and Liberal Democrat county councillors agreed the savings on Tuesday.

In a survey of 3,500 members of the county council's branch of the union Unison, hundreds indicated that they wanted to take some sort of action following the decision.

A meeting of the branch executive is being held next week to decide whether to ballot members on industrial action. Social workers could strike but a work-to-rule could be an alternative so vulnerable people do not suffer.

Branch secretary Mark Fysh said: We are also seeking advice to see if we can mount a legal challenge on the basis that the council is not performing its statutory duties to service users." Children, the elderly, and disabled people in Oxfordshire will be affected by the cuts, including about 100 young people, aged five to 17, who attend three resource centres in Abingdon, Banbury, and Henley. The withdrawal of a £500,000 grant is likely to mean that the centres, which provide respite care for families, will close.

Parents whose children use the centres, which are run by the charity Barnardo's, have vowed to fight the closures.

An action group called FORCe (Friends of Resource Centres) is meeting at the Rivermead Rehabilitation Centre in Abingdon Road, Oxford, on Wednesday at 7.30pm to decide how best to challenge the closures.