Many charities and groups are to lose free use of Oxford Town Hall.

The city council, which is facing £3.8m cuts, has decided it must recoup some of the £500,000 a year it costs to run the building.

Non-profit making organisations, which have for years relied on its rooms to hold events free of charge, will now face charges, although the majority will still be offered discounts.

Only 17 organisations will not have to pay.

Oxford Age Concern director Mary Daniels said the decision was a blow to the charity, which now planned to protest.

She said: "It was one of the ways in which the city council could support our work without really costing them a great deal.

"It is an extra burden on us now to find other premises. The charges are likely to be too high for us. We have used the Town Hall a great deal in some years on a monthly basis."

Di Chesterman, recruitment manager for the Oxfordshire branch of the British Red Cross, based in Colwell Drive, Abingdon, said a publicity day planned for the Town Hall on May 8 would probably have to be cancelled.

She said: "We wanted to use the Town Hall to raise awareness and bring in new volunteers but obviously we have a limited budget and might hold the event elsewhere following the decision."

Meetings of The Voice of Deliverance Missionary Outreach, which offers counselling, could now be held outside Oxford. The Rev Peter Scothern said: "We cannot afford to pay these fees and it will be local people who suffer. There will be a tremendous backlash against this decision."

The new policy comes into effect in April. It aims to free up rooms for commercial organisations.

Councillors agreed to cut the list of groups exempt from payment from 57 to 17. Only the Green group opposed the move.

Green spokesman Cllr Rob Sykes said: "The council may be closing off a valuable resource for little financial benefit."

It costs £450 to hire the main hall on a weekday for four hours or £110 for a smaller room. In the evening, it costs 11 to hire any meeting room.

Liberal Democrat councillor David Penwarden defended the move, saying it was necessary because the number of small organisations given free letting had grown too big.

He said: "We need to recover some of the £500,000 it costs to run the Town Hall and let rooms more effectively."

Chinese New Year celebrations cost the council nearly £2,000 in lost revenue. The £1,700 fee to hire the hall on a Sunday was waived.

Cllr Penwarden said: "It was a very successful event. I believe about 500 people attended. We agonised over the decision but it is probably an event that could be paid for quite easily.

"Age Concern is a very successful charity. They do not have to meet in the town hall. We have 27 community centres which are crying out for bookings. They could take their work nearer to where people live."

Town Hall manager David Clark said: "The payment situation is quite complex. Organisations that in the past did not get free use, and have subsequently applied for it, would be offered either the concessionary fee, or meeting fee, which offers a considerable discount on the standard fee." No charges

*The City of Oxford Charities Group

*The City of Oxford Theatre Guild

*National Association of Widows

*Oxford Gang Show

*Oxford Carers' Forum

*The Racial Equalities Council

*WEA Oxford Levellers branch

*Committee for the over 70s Christmas party

*Headington Quarry Folk Dance Club

*International Women's Festival Committee

*Littlemore Joint Schools Project

*Oxford and District Federation of Allotments

*The Town Twinning Associations

*Oxford Pensioners' Action Group

*Citizen's Advice Bureau

*Oxford Society of Change Ringers

*Oxford Duke of Edinburgh Awards Committee

The losers:

*British Red Cross

*Oxford Pedestrian Association

*St Giles Orchestra

*Oxford Age Concern

*Oxford Beekeepers Association

*National Union of Journalists (Oxford branch)

*The Voice of Deliverance Missionary Outreach

*Oxford Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

*Oxfordshire Racial Equality Council will get a free annual general meeting, but will have to pay for regular meetings

*Oxford Symphony Orchestra

*Campaign to Close Campsfield

*Oxford Tree Club

*Oxford Civic Society

*Oxford & District Trades Council

*Oxford Division magistrates and others