A Petersfield playgroup for children with special needs and the town's much-loved toy library face an uncertain future as time runs out on their temporary home.

The Acorns playgroup, based in The Avenue Pavilion, uses a temporary cabin to provide storage and support facilities, and the building is also home to the popular toy library.

In addition the cabin hosts monthly carer support sessions and training workshops for two childminding groups in the town.

But the temporary planning permission for the building expired last week, and if it is not extended, these vital services will be left out in the cold.

The playgroup, which can cater for children with both physical disabilities and learning difficulties, currently has 32 children enrolled and holds eight sessions a week.

Most of the activities take place in the pavilion but the cabin provides a parents' room, quiet room facilities for the children and much-needed storage space.

The toy library is open every Friday morning, and has more than 20 families registered as borrowers.

It allows parents of children with special needs to try out toys to assess suitability and prevents unwanted purchases.

The cabin is provided by The Petersfield Society for Special Needs, a non-profit-making organisation, which has asked district planners to extend the temporary permission.

But the chairman of the society, Len Hughes, told The Herald this week that a dedicated Early Years Centre in the town remained the long-term solution.

"The cabin belongs to The Petersfield Society for Special Needs and we are just one of the many children's organisations which form the Early Years Centre who are trying to get permission for a new building on the site," he said.

"We have had our building, the cabin, since 1994. It was put there at that time to meet the demand for a special needs nursery.

"The Early Years Group put an application in three years ago for a larger building on that site, but it was turned down both by East Hampshire District Council and at appeal."

Mr Hughes said the Early Years Centre had, on the advice of the planning inspector, looked at alternative sites, including the Love Lane car park, but no suitable site had been found.

"What's happening now is they are still trying to get that building up and running. Our planning permission on the cabin has expired and we have applied to extend that planning permission for two years," Mr Hughes said.

"If we pack up there, there will be so many little organisations homeless it will be untrue. The continuation of services from these little groups is vital."

He added: "The toy library usage is so great. On Friday mornings it is in full swing and there are kids and parents everywhere. It provides a great facility for parents."

The groups' battle for a new home has now been running for more than a decade. Temporary permission for the cabin was first granted in 1994 for two years.

At that time the society was advised that it was "unlikely that further temporary permissions would be granted".

However further extensions to the permission were granted in 1997 and 1999, but on both occasions district planners warned that future permissions were unlikely.

In 2002 the planning authority refused to extend the permission on the cabin, and also refused permission for the Early Years Centre on the site.

But even though the Early Years Centre lost its appeal against the decision, the society's appeal to keep the cabin for a further two years was allowed.

On Friday of last week that permission expired, and the society now faces another battle with planners to ensure the future of the vital services based at the cabin.