THE closure of yet another nursery in the Cotswolds within the space of a year has left residents up in arms.

Parents have been given a month's notice from the Co-operative Childcare Rissington, which is closing its facility at Rissington Business Park, Upper Rissington, near Bourton.

The nursery, which is near the site of the new Bovis Homes' Victory Fields development still under construction, said it cannot carry on after its lease runs out in June as it has only been offered a one-year extension.

A spokesman said they were sorry the nursery was closing but as they aimed to establish "long term childcare provision", they had decided to concentrate their investment in "other settings".

The loss of the Upper Rissington nursery follows the closure of the Barn Nursery School and Day Nursery, in Bourton, last March, and the ABC123 Daycare based at the Fire Service College in Moreton which closed two months later.

Parents have met with Co-operative Childcare which has offered discounted places for every child at its newly refurbished nurseries in Carterton and Madley Park, in Witney.

But a parent, who did not want to be named, said they were running out of options.

"It's upsetting and stressful for the parents and the children to yet again to have to find new childcare," she said.

"It just seems crazy they can't seem to be able to afford to run a nursery when 300-odd houses are being built.

"They are all family homes advertised and there's not going to be the provision for child care."

Another parent added: "I can't believe how few nurseries there are in this area. It's just going to make it even more difficult to make sure the kids get the childcare they need."

A spokesperson for The Co-operative Childcare said: “Closing the nursery in Rissington was not a decision that has been taken lightly but our current lease ends in June and after exploring a number of options, we have concluded that the future of the setting is not viable.

"Furthermore we will be making no compulsory redundancies following the decision to close the nursery and are working hard to continue to support our colleagues as well as parents."

A spokesperson from Linden Homes said: “We appreciate what a valuable service this nursery provides and understand that existing residents benefit greatly from this nursery facility.

"As such, we are currently interviewing other operators to re-instate this provision. Longer term, we are exploring the option to build a brand new facility that local children can attend."

A Bovis Homes spokesman added: “We are looking to work with the community along with Linden to see if we can address this issue.”