Liverpool nurseries go up for sale

Four nurseries are being sold and funding for a fifth is being withdrawn by Liverpool City Council.

Nurseries in Garston, Tuebrook, Wavertree and Knotty Ash are to be sold in the autumn while Everton Children's Centre will lose its subsidy.

The nurseries employ a total of 71 staff and look after 240 children.

Labour councillor Jane Corbett, cabinet member for education and children's services, said the council could no longer afford to subsidise them.

The council claims selling the nurseries will save £800,000 a year.

Ms Corbett said: "Unfortunately the cost of the staff - because they are so qualified, and a lot of them are right at the top of their tree in terms of their qualifications and their long service - is making the businesses very expensive to run."

She added that from a commercial standpoint, the nurseries were no longer "sustainable".