Plans for a £40,000 extension to a community centre have been put in jeopardy after a pre-school announced it would no longer be using the building.

The community association at Langford Village, one of Bicester's housing estates, wants to carry out the work to provide storage space.

But ironically the extra room was being provided mainly to suit the needs of the Cygnets pre-school group, which is expected to leave the community centre in July.

Cygnets will become part of the early years unit at Langford Village primary school, in Peregrine Way, which is only a few yards away from the centre in Nightingale Place.

Cygnets hires the building for two-and-a-half hours every weekday morning in term time. The group caters for 24 children aged from three. The school already has a nursery class for four- to five-year-olds.

The group is by far the biggest user of the centre, contributing thousands of pounds a year to running costs.

Ian Lawrence, chairman of Langford Village community association, said: "To apply for a grant from the National Lottery towards the cost of the extension we had to produce a business plan. "We were reliant on the income from the Cygnets because we have to show to the Lottery people we can generate ourselves about 50 per cent of the cost of the extension.

"Without the Cygnets money we might not get a grant."

Tina Beard, Cygnets chairman, said the group was looking to move to the school because the Government was now providing funding for early years education for children aged three years onwards.

Mrs Beard said: "Most children get only three mornings a week but they are entitled to five. One of the problems at the centre is that we have to pack up our equipment every day."

School headteacher John Moffitt said the move still needed to be approved by Oxfordshire Education Authority, but he hoped Cygnets would be based at the school from September.

Mr Moffitt added: "The education authority is looking at developing early years education and combining work done by pre-school groups like Cygnets with schools.

"Although the centre and the school are very close, the idea of a partnership is that activities are all on one site at the school.

"We do realise that if Cygnets move to us it could cause difficulties for the centre management committee."