THOUSANDS of young people could be sleeping rough because Gloucestershire County Council is cutting £350,000 of funds to local charities.

The decision to reduce the grants has been condemned by charity workers.

Staff at the county branch of Shelter, which helps homeless and vulnerable young people, say they stand to lose £125,000.

Manager AliCORRECT Hendley is holding an urgent meeting with council finance chiefs to try and reverse the decision.

"We help 1,300 young people a year in Gloucestershire and are concerned they will have nowhere to go," she said.

"We had no prior warning and no opportunity to prepare a contingency plan.

"We provide an essential safety net for those most at risk of harm and we provide a life-saving service to them. What will happen if we are not here?"

Other charities which face funding cuts include those working with the mentally ill, young runaways and displaced families.

They are Astra, Mencap, Contact a Family, the Forest Opportunity Centre and the Family and Placement Support Service.

And because funding bodies often require grants to be matched by cash from other sources, charities stand to lose further money on top of what the council has withdrawn.

Opposition councillors have vowed to force the authority to re-think the cutbacks.

County councillor Lesley Williams (Lab, Stonehouse) said: "It's disgraceful that the needy and vulnerable are being penalised. "We will obviously be doing all we can to fight this."

And county councillor Brian Oosthuysen (Lab, Rodborough) said: "It is not only wrong, but it is manifestly stupid.

"The county council might well have to pay more than they are cutting from these organisations if the result is people have nowhere else to turn for help."

The SNJ asked GCC to comment but the authority was unable to do so before yesterday's deadline.