Nursery set to close after 23 years

A nursery in a Shropshire village is to close after 23 years. The parish council has given it notice to leave its premises by August. Lythwood Nursery is based at the pavilion in Bayston Hill.

But the parish council needs to update the building with disabled access for bowlers and changing rooms and there is no room for the nursery.

Bayston Hill Parish Council has offered alternative premises at the youth and community building in the village but nursery bosses say it is not suitable.

Letters have been sent out to parents by the nursery, which state the alternative accommodation is not adequate because everything will need to be cleared away each day and put out every morning, making the nursery unviable.

Parent Anna Nankervis, from Bayston Hill, had hoped her daughter Iris could attend the nursery later this year as she turns two in November.

The 33-year-old said: "I'm disappointed and upset that Iris can't go and it's obviously going to upset the children who are already there because they won't be able to continue somewhere they already know and in a stable and familiar environment.

"I would imagine other nurseries would be full to over-flowing now with the children who can't go to Lythwood Nursery."

Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski said he would contact the parish council.

Hazel Jones, chairman of Bayston Hill Parish Council, said: "We have bent over backwards to accommodate them and it's their choice to close."

She added: "The other building is just across the road and has everything they want. They have got facilities for storage at the new building."