Barnet care workers told council bosses yesterday “you can’t turn your back” on day two of a 48-hour strike to save crucial services.

Specialist sites catering for profoundly disabled and autistic locals shut their doors as staff mounted defiant pickets over a 9.5 per cent pay cut.

Unison union branch secretary John Burgess said the campaign by workers at crisis-hit Your Choice Barnet (YCB) — an arm’s-length body 100 per cent funded by the council — had the backing of parents, users and carers.

The union is to meet YCB bosses for talks on Monday but said the involvement of the Tory council was critical.

Workers have drawn up a list of demands including a call to write off an emergency £1 million loan that Barnet granted its care wing.

They also want council bosses to reverse a funding cut that means YCB loses money every hour.

With £70,000 in interest and a £500,000 repayment due on the loan, staff have been targeted with swingeing pay cuts.

Mr Burgess accused YCB and the council of being complicit in the drive to force down pay.

Fears are rising that notorious outsourcer Capita, which operates a £320m council privatisation contract, is waiting to grab the services.

But at three successive ballots workers have voted in growing numbers to fight back.

“This is a fight against the march of social care towards a zero-hours culture,” Mr Burgess said, adding that the use of agencies to plug staffing gaps was also a growing concern.

“When you work with profoundly disabled people familiarity is critical,” he said.

“There is a real fear among members that if they didn’t take action more people would leave.”