FAMILIES in Weardale have been hit by the surprise closure of a nursery school.

Parents, who have children at the private nursery in Rookhope, said they were stunned by the nursery closure, which left them just a few days to find alternative places.

Rookhope Pre School Ltd has operated the nursery as a non-profit making company for the past two years, renting space in the village primary school.

Eleven of its 20 children are moving to primary schools in September.

For mother Vicky Brown, from Daddy Shield, the nursery is the nearest pre-school centre for her two-year-old son, Anthony. She said: "It is a very good nursery and we are all very upset that is closing.

"It's another facility taken away from people in the dale and it means that the children will be separated from their friends.

"They have only given us two weeks to decide where to send our children and find a place. That is a bit of a kick in the teeth.

"If we had had more time, we could have got a group together to try to keep it open."

Joanne Nuttall, of St John's Chapel, sent her two daughters to Rookhope.

She is a member of an action group bidding for funding for transport to take children from outlying dales communities to Rookhope or other nurseries.

She said: "We are all extremely disappointed because it is such a good nursery. Our children have been very happy there."

"Now parents from Upper Weardale will have to send their children to Stanhope or Frosterley, which are farther away."

Nursery director Joe Bergin said: "One of our prime objectives when we set up the nursery was to sustain the primary school because we thought that children would move up there when they left us.

"This has not turned out to be the case. Only four children have done that and they would have done that anyway. The others have gone back to schools in their own villages.

"We have been working to find a way of staying open since at least January when it became apparent that our financial situation was not looking good.

"We tried right up to the last minute to find a solution but, sadly, it was not viable. It is a shame for the children, but we had no choice."