A NURSERY offering 70 places for childcare and providing 13 full-time jobs could be coming to the site of a former youth offenders unit.

Plans have been submitted to Hyndburn Council by Little Brook Children’s Nursery to open a new facility in Accrington.

The nursery currently has one site in Blackburn Road in Great Harwood but has been looking to expand for a number of years.

Proposals have gone in for the building in Blake Street which is empty but up until recently has been used by Lancashire County Council as a youth offending unit.

The nursery would be registered to care for around 70 children age between 0 and five and would provide approximately 13 full time jobs.

The existing Little Brook Children’s Nursery has 48 places and is ‘always full’.

Dawn Hartley, managing director of the nursery, said: “We’re looking to expand the nursery.

“We’ve been looking for years and years for a new site.

“This one fits the bill.

“The thing is at the moment there is a lot of negativity around childcare and the 30 hours free childcare.

“It is just about offering affordable child care, which we are doing and it is all inclusive.

“There is a lot of demand for places and people are coming outside the area for it.

“We are always full, as soon as a place comes available someone will take it straight up.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to open this one and maybe another after that in the future.”

The site would be open from 6.30am until 7pm and would be registered with Ofsted.

Plans would involve converting two spaces of the existing park into a garden area for the nursery which would be fenced off.

A total of 14 parking spaces would then remain.

Lancashire County Council closed the Accrington Youth Offending Team unit at the site as part of its cuts last year.

Hyndburn Council leader Cllr Miles Parkinson said: “It’s very positive news.

“Lancashire County Council disposed of the site due to its savings.

“I am pleased that the building is being put back into use especially to provide child care as a lot of working families need support."

“It is also a positive that it would create jobs, I am very pleased with it.”

The property had been refurbished to a ‘good standard’ to incorporate new carpets, complete redecoration and facelift to the toilets since then.

Police have submitted a crime impact statement on the plans warning a ‘high level’ of incidents in the area and potential concerns to be addressed.

Crime officer Davina Helm said: “Over the past 12 months there have been high levels of reported crime within the police crime incident location that encapsulates the proposed development,

“Educational establishments, including children’s nurseries, can be attractive to criminals and are often targeted for burglary as they generally store large quantities of IT equipment.”

However police said the risk of crime can be reduced by installing alarms, CCTV, lighting and offering restricted access to the building.