Five-year-old donates his toys to help children affected by Bamber Bridge nursery blaze

Leo Farrell, from Calico Close, Bamber Bridge, has donated his toys to Busy Bees Nursery in nearby School Lane, after it was ravaged by a roof fire on June 8.

>>>Click here to see scene pictures.

His mum, Kiera Farrell, 25, said: "I was walking passed the nursery with my daughter when the fire broke out, and I spent two hours directing traffic and called the police, asking them to close the road.

"Leo wasn't in school that day because it was half term, and his dad told him where I was and what had happened.

"We reassured him everything was alright and eveyone got out okay, but it obviously bothered him."

>>>Click here to read about the community response to the fire.

She added: "A few days later we were driving passed the building and Leo asked if it was going to be fixed and whether the girls and boys had lost everything.

"Later on, he came up to me and said he wanted to give the boys and girls the toys he didn't play with anymore. It made me cry when he said that."

Kiera got in touch with the manager of the nursery, and Leo delivered a toy fire engine, cars, car transporter and building blocks.

Kiera said: "It might not seem a lot, but it was a lot to him. He was absolutely thrilled to have done it, and Busy Bees were really pleased too."

Leo, who attends Cuerden Church School in Bamber Bridge, has the condition hereditary Hereditar Spastic Paraparesis, which causes weakness in his legs, and means he has to use a wheelchair to travel any long distance.

Kiera said: "He has needs himself, but he is always a really kind, caring boy and is there to comfort anyone when they are down.

"He seems a lot older than he really is, and is always thinking of others and very polite. The whole family are incredibly proud of him."

Busy Bees have yet to announce when the nursery in School Lane will reopen. Structural engineers have been to the site to assess the damage, and fire fighters now believe the cause was accidental.