WITH reference to the recent article regarding the throwing into a skip of toys and play equipment from Kelsall Avenue Nursery School, by staff from the council's Early Years department.

We have had lots of calls from other schools, nurseries, playgroups and others who are appalled at what happened.

Many also said that they would have been more than happy to have had some toys and play equipment.

Councillor Maureen Bateson is quoted as saying that before being thrown into the skip, the toys and play equipment were professionally evaluated by appropriately qualified staff.' It wasn't professional staff who made the decision what to throw and what to save - it was the caretaker.

How do we know? Because we were there.

We, along with a number of other governors, heard the new Early Years head of centre explain that she had asked the caretaker to decide what should be thrown into the skip, based on what he reckoned was irreparable or hadn't been used in the last two years.

The senior council officer present at the governors' meeting, when he realised what was happening, tried to rescue the situation by phoning town hall colleagues to see if it was all right to sort though the toys and equipment, to see what was usable or easily repairable.

This was agreed and the intention was we would collect them for local play and toddler groups.

We were advised in this by our outgoing headteacher who graded all the toys and equipment for us and a lot of it was brought back into the school to be collected by us the next morning.

These included highly valuable play equipment, such as high quality toys made by Community Playthings'.

Their toys have a lifetime' guarantee. Some of the items including a see-saw and a large aeroplane, are priced in their current catalogue from £375 upwards.

We really thought we had prevented a terrible act of vandalism' by the council.

Our hopes were dashed the next morning when we received a phone call from the officer concerned, saying that he had been told that the Early Years department had changed their minds because of insurance liabilities' because all the toys and equipment were now deemed unfit.

DIANE SLEIGH and JANET RYDEN, chair & vice-chair, Kelsall Avenue Nursery school governing body.