More than 1,000 people have signed a petition asking Newport City Council to reverse their decision to pull out of a Gwent-wide children’s special needs service.

Withdrawing from the Sensory and Communication Support Service (SenCom) would save the council £250,000, according to their recently released draft budget.

The service currently work across all five Gwent local authorities and supports children from 0 to 19 years old with a wide range of visual, hearing and communication needs.

In October, Newport announced they were leaving SenCom to set up their own “tailored” service which they hope will better meet the needs of around 380 children and families who use the service in Newport.

READ MORE: Newport council defend their decision to pull out of SenCom

But, at the time of writing, 1,163 people had signed a petition calling for the decision to be reversed within four days of it going live.

Petition author Rob Hiett told the South Wales Argus he couldn’t believe the council were considering leaving SenCom.

His daughter Demi-Rose, 2, is registered blind, and has received specialist support from the service since she was just a couple of months old. But Mr Hiett, 29,and his wife Hollie, 31, of Beattie Road in Newport are devastated that their own support network has been put at risk by the decision.

“What’s frustrating is that they’ve pulled the funding with no notice whatsoever,” said 29-year-old Mr Hiett.

“We go to Cwmbran for weekly sessions with Demi-Rose, and other families come from all over Gwent. We’ve made a lot of friends there, people who are in the same situation as us. Everybody is in the same boat and nobody judges you or your children.

READ MORE: Newport Council withdraw from Gwent-wide Sensory and Communication Support Service

“It’s important for us as well as for Demi-Rose. We need that support.”

“I just don’t know how it’s going to work at all. This is going to affect everyone in the service across Gwent.

“Can you imagine how children like Demi-Rose who can’t see are going to cope with a new person suddenly? She’s been with the same person for almost two years now, and she’s been developing leaps and bounds with that support."

Reacting to the £250,000 saving Newport council hope to make, her father Rob Hiett called it a "kick in the teeth".

"That amount is nothing to the council, in the grand scheme of things" said the 29-year-old.

Newport City Council were approached to comment on the petition.

Last week, the Argus reported that 16 highly trained staff, who work across all five Gwent local authorities, are at risk of redundancy as a result of the decision.

A council spokesman previously said their decision to withdraw from the service should not destabilise the regional provision as “SenCom will still be appropriately sized, resourced and will remain a viable service.”

To read the petition, follow this link.