Two more college nurseries to shut

Parents of children at Bright Stars nursery at Scarborough's Yorkshire Coast College and Chatterbox Nursery at Carlisle College were shocked to find out in July that the settings will not reopen in September.

The 60-place Bright Stars nursery opened in 1992 and originally provided childcare for student parents before opening to the public. Its closure follows the merger of Yorkshire Coast College with the Grimsby Institute of Higher Education, which was finalised in January.

A spokesperson for Yorkshire Coast College said, 'Parents can be assured that we are working hard to provide information on available places for their children in the area. Yorkshire Coast College will offer help and guidance to affected staff on finding new jobs.'

Emma Pickard, who is studying animal management at Yorkshire Coast College, said, 'I have one child at Bright Stars at the moment and one who was due to start there in September. I have been really happy with the staff at Bright Stars and I have got to know them well. This has had a massive impact on me. I almost had to give up my college course. My youngest is disabled. I found somewhere else for my children and was then told that that setting was closing as well.'

At Carlisle College, the 22-place Chatterbox Nursery is to close despite a meeting with parents on 12 July, where the college pledged to explore further options for the nursery. Parents were angry when the college confirmed that the nursery would close only two days after the meeting, citing an annual deficit of £25,000 and that low numbers of children along with uncertainty over the future of the nursery's premises meant it was financially unsustainable.

A college spokesperson said, 'It is with the greatest regret that we have to examine the future of our nursery. Low numbers of students using the nursery combined with budget constraints and funding cuts from the Government have led to this difficult decision being made.'