An East Lancashire nursery is closing its doors today (April 14) and has cited the current financial climate as the reason.

Bonsai Children’s Day Nursery, in Whalley Road, Langho, will be closed for good from today.

Harp Nurseries, which own the nursery, made the announcement on Tuesday (April 11) and said the decision was not taken lightly.

One parent, who wished to remain anonymous, has a child who attended Bonsai and is now desperately trying to find a new nursery.

She said: “It’s been a lovely nursery with fabulous staff.

“Now I am facing the emotional repercussions of the closure, such as the anxiety of leaving your kids with strangers all over again.

"It takes time to build that trust and these poor kids are going to have to be thrown into a new nursery.

“We’re all back at work and need to crack [with finding a new nursery] or we could lose our jobs.

“The other local nurseries have responded really well to the situation and most children already have a new space.”

A spokesperson for Harp Nurseries, which owns 10 other nurseries across England, said it will be supporting children, families and staff throughout the transition.

They said: “At Harp, we pride ourselves on providing high quality care and education for all our children and this is something we want to maintain across all our nurseries.

“Due to the current climate and with so many other provisions having to close, we have had to make the difficult decision to close Bonsai Day Nursery, Langho.

“We understand how difficult this will be, so our priority is to ensure the wellbeing and care of all our children, families and staff are the focus. As a company we are fully supporting with this transition.

“This decision has not been taken lightly and we are supporting staff and families through this difficult time.”

A spokesperson for Bonsai Children’s Day Nursery declined to comment further on the closure but wished families and staff the best for the future.

They said: “I wish all parents and staff the best for the future. We hope everybody manages to find alternative child care and jobs.”

More nurseries and childminders are likely to close their doors due to cost pressures and staff shortages, childcare leaders have warned.

Childminders and nursery staff are leaving the sector as the “emotional” demands of the job are taking their toll, MPs have heard.

Leaders of childcare providers told the Commons Education Select Committee that families are already “missing out” on childcare places due to closures of early years settings – and they warned the situation could get worse in the years to come as a result of funding pressures.

This comes despite Government plans announced in March's Budget to extend free childcare to working parents of all children over the age of nine months from September 2025.

It also comes as Ofsted figures, published in November last year, show the number of childcare providers in England registered with the watchdog fell by 5,400 in the year to August 2022.

Gemma Rolstone, director of quality at Puffins Childcare in Devon, told MPs: “I think a lot of those really important small providers who do give an awful lot more than the basics will close and it will be filled in other ways that may not necessarily be the best for children and families.”

The Government’s proposals to ease childcare staffing ratios in nurseries in England would lead to even more staff leaving the profession as it would become “crowd control and nothing more”, Ms Rolstone warned.

She said: “I think it’s probably better if you heard from my staff about the change in ratio, and that is that they would all leave the sector if the ratios were increased because they’re already stretched.

“There’s already a huge emotional toil on it.”