Rural pre-school needs more children to stay open

The pre-school is run from Strangways Hall in the centre of the village

A rural pre-school in Dorset says it needs to attract more families as it struggles to stay open.

Chesil Bank pre-school in Abbotsbury has been running since 2003, with a focus on getting children outside.

Families of children attending the group say they want to help keep it going after its previous operator stood aside.

They hope its "calm and quiet" environment will attract parents from further afield.

Grandparent Derek Greenacre said: "It's in a rural area. There's not a lot of provision for almost anything.

"[If it closes] the whole community is going to lose out - for instance, the people who own the hall won't get any income from the pre-school.

"It ripples on through the community."

Emma Gordon, whose son attends Chesil Bank, said: "He gets muddy, he gets wet, and he always comes home happy and smiling.

"It's an incredibly calm and quiet setting and it makes you feel relaxed when you drop him off."

Ms Gordon said, with few young families in Abbotsbury, the pre-school needed to attract people from Weymouth, Dorchester and Portland.

She said: "I travel 20 minutes to get there. Another parent brings her little girl from Portland.

"We just need people to know that we're there."