INVERCLYDE Council’s SNP chief today pledged to work to protect the district’s children in the face of massive upcoming spending cuts.

Opposition leader Chris McEleny cited a shocking new study which has found that one in every four local kids is living in poverty.

The Telegraph told last week how Inverclyde is now officially the joint fourth worst area in Scotland for child deprivation.

Councillor McEleny declared today: “We will not accept any savings that further compound this disgraceful statistic.” He added: “We must make sure that we protect things that help improve the lives of children in Inverclyde — such as money committed to free school meals.” We revealed earlier this month how the cash-crippled council is facing a huge £15.3 million hole in its funding — which represents NINE PER CENT of the net budget for all Municipal Buildings departments.

Elected members — who have agreed a major public consultation on the scale of the enforced savings — must make swingeing service cuts across the board next February.

Cllr McEleny described the situation as ‘unprecedented’, adding: “We are simply faced with a situation of spending more than we receive.” He promised that his six-strong SNP council group would reach out to Labour’s nine-member minority administration, as well as other members, in a bid to reach a consensus.

Cllr McEleny — who also wants low class sizes to be maintained in schools — said: “We have agreed to work with other parties so that the views of everyone in Inverclyde are represented.

“We believe that public services exist so everyone in society can benefit, especially those who are not as well off.” But he warned: “There may, though, come a point when we simply can’t accept cuts to certain services.

“We await a report from officers regarding areas in which they believe savings can be made.”