The Wolvercote Clinic has been based in Epsom since 1995 but has to move because the land has been sold to a developer.

Plans to house the clinic in Chertsey, Surrey were abandoned because of local opposition.

The nine remaining residents at Wolvercote will be moved outside Surrey but will continue to work with Wolvercote staff.

We have a duty to protect the public and we need the provision to take on that work

Probation Service director Eithne Wallis

Funding will continue to be provided for the clinic's owners, the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, to make sure its expertise is not lost.

The Probation Service has announced plans for more sex offender clinics and a national review to see where they can be located.

The director of the Probation Service, Eithne Wallis said: "We know that there is always going to be a degree of local opposition to any site we pick, but we first need to have a debate, away from the discussion of any particular site, to reach a consensus about why and how many of these establishments we need.

'Important niche'

"We have a duty to protect the public and we need the provision to take on that work."

Baroness Valerie Howarth, of the Lucy Faithfull Foundation said: "Child sexual abuse is a major problem, we need more resources, not less.

Chertsey residents opposed the new plans

"Whilst acknowledging the excellent work done by the Probation Service, the closure of Wolvercote represents a reduction in available services and Wolvercote fills an important niche in the range of treatment."

The clinic's founder, Ray Wyre, said children will be put at risk when the clinic closes.

He said: "There is a desperate need for centres like this in every region of the country.

"All the research has shown that Wolvercote and other projects like it are effective in reducing risk.

The residential clinic treats men accused or convicted of sexual offences against children to try to stop them re-offending.

It is not a prison, but men being treated have to agree to the clinic's rules and are not allowed to come and go at will.