A charity for abused and bereaved children says it may be forced to help fewer youngsters because a national charity has decided to use a similar name.

West London Action for Children (WLAC), based in Hortensia Road, Chelsea, provides counselling for about 400,000 children per year from just two boroughs of London Ð Kensington and Chelsea and Hammersmith and Fulham.

But today, the charity NCH the children's charity rebranded themselves as Action for Children.WLAC, which receives no money from the government, says the new name is too close to its own.

WLAC chief executive Heather Boxer said: "To call themselves Action for Children will imply that we are a branch. We would lose that very special identity that we have here in west London and it would be a huge disadvantage.

"It would affect our fundraising because people will think we are this national charity which gets most of its money from the government anyway."

She added that this is not the first time she has fought to stop NCH from changing its name. "We fought it 15 years ago and we are having to fight it again now," she said.

An Action for Children spokeswoman said: "We are confident that our new identity and the work that we do will be sufficiently distinct so as to run no risk of confusion with other organisations. We have worked closely with the Charity Commission to ensure that in changing our name we respect the position of other charities and we are committed to continuing these efforts."

See www.wlac.org.uk for more information.