Nursery school's sudden closure leaves parents stunned

A number of parents say they were phoned on Friday evening to tell them the Marylands in Lostock Hall had closed.

The mums and dads have been frantically trying to find new places for their children since then.

They have set up a special Facebook page so people can keep in touch and discuss the worrying situation.

And other nursery schools nearby have been in contact with offers of places.

The Brownedge Road site is also understood to be linked to another nursery, also called Marylands at Pope Lane, Penwortham.

It is understood Marylands in Penwortham is not affected by the Lostock Hall nursery’s closure and is operating as normal.

Paul McIntyre, 46, and his wife Jackie, 34, have a son Joel, two, who attended the Lostock Hall school.

The couple, of Evesham Close, Lostock Hall, are social workers.

Mr McIntyre said: “We got a phone about 8pm last night, it was my wife who took the call.

“A lady said she was with the owner, she said the owner was sat there, but because they had so many parents to contact, they’d obviously divided it up.

“She read from a prepared statement. It was basically that the nursery was closing with immediate affect.

“The only reason given for the closure was for personal reasons, they didn’t give any more than that.”

He added that the caller also said any money would be refunded and that if parents wanted more information they could contact the owner.

Mr McIntyre added: “The last day we were there was Thursday.

“I know talking to other parents it was business as usual up to Friday teatime.

“There’s still some people not had a phone call yet.”

He continued: “Our little boy’s been there about 15 months. It took him a long time to settle.

“There’s been a bit going on which made people wonder.

“One member of staff has resigned. There were complaints to Ofsted who investigated and gave it a clean bill of health, there have been meetings with parents. All kinds have been going on in the last twelve months.

“I think people are talking about why it closed with immediate affect. I think people are speculating about whether something has happened, whether Oftsed have been told to close it.”

Mr McIntyre said he worked full time and that his wife worked four days a week and would be off on Monday trying to find a place for Joel.

“I’m probably going to have to take at least some of the day off on Monday, traipsing round nurseries,” he said.

The Post has not been able contact the owner of the nursery school for a comment.

The parents’ Facebook page - Former Marylands Parents - is busy with the mums and dads discussing the situation.

Debi Flynn, of Walton le Dale, posted: “My son Bailey was in class one really sad news I just feel sad he won’t be seeing his little friends or the staff on Monday such a shame.”

- Are you affected by the closure? Contact our news team on [email protected]