Parents are pleading with authorities to rethink their decision on closing a vital service for disabled children.

Nascot Lawn Respite Centre, which looks after children who need constant medical supervision to provide relief for families, is currently due to close on October 31.

The decision to close the facility on Langley Road, Watford, was made by Hertfordshire Valley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), due to lack of funding.

READ MORE: Watford MP challenges closure of centre for disabled children

The CCG have been having meetings with parents about how this service will be provided in the future, but parents insist that they need the centre to remain open.

David Johnson’s son Dominic, 18, has intractable epilepsy, which means that medication cannot be used to treat his condition, and he has several hundred seizures a month.

Mr Johnson said: “We all look after our children with sheer love and devotion, but we are only human and we all need time.

“Unless you are in this situation it is really hard to understand the pressure people are under.

“You can hear and see the despair on fellow parents it is really is heart-breaking to witness the additional strain on people that are already on the edge.”

Emma Turner’s daughter Sienna Scott, nine, has been attending the service since she was two.

Sienna is not mobile or verbal and as well as having medical need has also self-harmed, and so needs constant supervision.

Emma said: “To make these cuts and pick on disabled children, is really the low, it’s a brutal decision.

“I don’t think it’s a decision that anyone feels good about, but what were the other options that were discussed that this was the best one?

“I don’t feel guilty about spending time with my other children, when she is in Nascot Lawn, because I know that she is happy and safe.

“We are told that our children, will be assessed again, but I think that is a waste of time and money. To this couple of days a month respite that I have right now, I am not sure I will be able to cope.”

READ MORE: Families 'devastated' by impending closure of centre for disabled children

Although Dominic would be due to leave the service on his 19th birthday, Mr Johnson feels passionately about campaigning to save the service.

He added: “It has been so vital for us over the last 15 years, that we want to fight to save it for those using it and for families who may not even need it yet.

“This is a service for arguably the most vulnerable people in society and who are already struggling to work all week to keep their families together this is just a horrifying decision.

Both Nikki Lancaster and her partner stopped working for years to provide constant care for her son Lennon, 10.

She said: “The staff at Nascot Lawn could have turned around and told us that his need was too great, but assessed our need and chose to train to look after him.

“It is a lot of pressure, and Nascot Lawn is the key to coping as taking Lennon anywhere is like a military operation.

“It is so important that we are able to do things with our other children and do normal family stuff.”

READ MORE: Decision to close centre for disabled children criticised

The online petition reached more than 10,000 signatures in the eight days.

To sign the petition click here.