TRAIN station improvements and school developments have been axed following Government cuts.

Parents and staff at Buttsbury Pre-School in Billericay are devastated after funding for a new school building was cancelled as part of cost-cutting measures.

In the same week, it was revealed that plans to improve journeys for commuters at Wickford are also set for the scrap-heap.

The Perry Street school had been granted £800,000 by Essex County Council's Early Years scheme to construct a new building, with work due to commence at the beginning of this month.

However, following a directive from the Department of Education, plans have been put on hold.

"We are devastated and disappointed," said Pre-School committee chairman Caroline Corrigan.

"It would have done so much for the children and community.

"We jumped through hoops to get this and it has been taken away.

"This new building really was the beacon for the future and it was going to help for the provision of special needs in the community."

The new building, which would have replaced the century-old site currently in use, was planned to have a sensory room for disabled children and facilities for the wider community to use.

In a second blow to the district, improvement works at Wickford station, off Station Avenue, are also under threat due to budget constraints.

Plans to improve parking congestion and ease access with cycle lanes and improved bus routes are at risk as the county council, along with bus and rail operators, struggles to work with limited finances.

Councillor Malcolm Buckley, who represents Wickford on Basildon District Council, said: "There are plans for some work to go ahead, but the recession has slowed things down generally.

"The economic situation is having an affect on local authorities, and it is quite clear we will have to make savings."

He insisted that their duty was to taxpayers and achieving value for money – even if that meant job cuts.

He said: "We would not retain a service just to keep up the number of council employees."

Councillor Jim Devlin, chair of Billericay Town Council's finance committee, agreed that times were tough.

He said: "The long-term plan is that we should manage a zero budget for a few years. We don't need to cut back spending but we do not need to increase it either."

Next month's comprehensive spending review from the Treasury will set out spending for local authorities for the next four years, forcing councils and government departments to budget as carefully as possible.

The cutbacks come just after Billericay and Wickford learnt the opening hours of their police stations were to be slashed.

The collapse of Wickford Master Plan earlier in the year has also set back regeneration.