Residents joined in a protest against a 42 per cent cut in the county council's budget for domestic abuse services.

They lobbied councillors with banners as they arrived for the budget meeting at county hall, and although the cut went ahead, Diana Dicker, of Bishopsteignton, declared that it was still worth making the point.

'We feel very, very strongly about this. The cuts are horrendous because domestic violence cuts across all social groups, affecting children as well.

'Women are sometimes the perpetrators, but the vast majority are men and it is often a secret thing that is never reported to the authorities. Women are regularly being killed.'

Seven pairs of shoes lined the path to represent the 70 women and children who died from domestic violence in the past year.

Protesters carried banners proclaiming that one in four women were victims, and 99 per cent of assaults occurred in front of children.

A spokesman for the county council maintained that the cut was actually 25 per cent.

'The total spend on domestic violence services in the coming year is £1.582 million – £1.112 million for Against Domestic Violence and Abuse and £470,000 for refuges, compared with a total of £2.121 million in the current year.'

Pictured left to right are Sarah van Veen, Kit Shimell, who is 90 and has severe sight problems, and Peggy-Sue Plowright.