New children's nursery to open in Leiston

Daisy Plumridge says it has been difficult for people to find childcare in Leiston

A nursery is to open in a town that has been without one for a year.

The Spring Leiston Nursery, on Waterloo Avenue in Leiston, Suffolk, is due to open on 2 April, with space for up to 48 children each day.

Manager Daisy Plumridge, 31, lives in Leiston and said the nursery would fill the gap left by the closure of another provider a year ago.

She said that as a lot of people in the town do not drive "they've got nowhere to put their children" at the moment.

When the Shining Stars Nursery shut down in February last year, it left parents with fewer childcare options.

Further afield, at the end of last year Alpha Nurseries, based in Ipswich, announced it was closing 22 sites across eight counties due to financial problems.

The Spring Leiston Nursery will be based in a former middle school

Ms Plumridge said: "It's really hard for parents to go out and find work and find somebody to have their children.

"We have already had a high number of applications and we are still taking applications because there's such a high need in the area."

The nursery will be based in the town's former middle school.

One local mother, who did not want to be named, told the BBC that the closest nursery suitable for her was "about nine miles in the opposite direction", making the new Leiston nursery more convenient.