Birth rate blamed for pre-school closure

4:44pm Sunday 23rd March 2008

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A PRE-school is closing with officials blaming the village's birth rate.

Mellor Pre-School, which is held in the village hall, will shutdown on March 31.

Bosses said there were not enough three and four-year-olds coming through.

They said this had left them unable to meet the minimum of 16 children required to cover the rent at the village hall.

This, along with staff overheads, has prompted its closure and will leave parents in the village without a full-time day care facility.

Sam Sallvato, administrator at the pre-school, said: "We've been left with no option but to close down and it's a big loss to the village.

"There aren't enough three and four-year-olds and it seems to be the case across the area.

"Last January we had 25 children in each session, each day, but they have moved on.

"We had to make five members of staff redundant in January this year just so we could keep going until the end of March." And she admitted the timing of the closure and absence of a village pre-school had upset some parents.

Mrs Sallvato added: "There is a lot of shock and outrage among parents because they have been left without an alternative. "Some of them now have to find an alternative for their children for just a few weeks until the school term would normally end, but we couldn't hang on any longer. "The two women who started the pre-school years ago will offer a part-time class at St Mary's School, Mellor, because they hate to see the village without something.

"But obviously it won't be quite the same. "I would like to thank all the families and parents who have helped the school over the years.

"And for me it has been lovely to see the children grow." The pre-school is selling all of its items, including children's puzzles, bikes, dolls and prams, on April 3 to cover outstanding rental costs and wages.

The average house price in the Ribble Valley is more than £200,000, pricing many young families out of the area.

But Coun Stella Brunskill, Mellor ward councillor, said she believed that a number of parents were instead sending their youngsters to the nearby Westholme School, from the age of four.