A 'loved and highly valued' Isle of Wight nursery has announced it is closing after 25 years, due to a lack of children and government funding.

Springhill Pre-School in East Cowes, run by the charity Springhill Pre-School Committee, will not reopen in September after reaching the 'sad conclusion' that it is no longer sustainable.

Trustees of the privately-run pre-school have met with parents, staff and town councillors in the last two weeks, to share the news.

A spokesperson for the preschool said staff and trustees would like to thank everyone involved for their support, but added the preschool was not sustainable.

They have put the closure down to a number of contributing factors, including the impact of Covid-19, low government funding rates and a drop in the number of school-age children on the Island.

East Cowes councillor, Karl Love, said the pre-school had been in a difficult situation for some time, with only 17 children attending the term-time nursery, Monday to Friday, from 9am to 3pm.

He said the situation reached tipping point when only eight children were enrolled to start in September.

Also attending the recent meetings,  Cllr Love said it was clear, through the heartfelt emotions of staff and parents, the pre-school was loved and highly valued.

He said it was a sad time and fears, with the Island's birthrate falling, other preschools and mainstream schools will face similarly difficult decisions moving forward.

There had been hopes in previous years that the Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth would buy the premises and take over the site for the benefit of the adjacent Holy Cross Catholic Primary School.

Hopes the building would then be let to the charity, for the pre-school,  were not been realised.

The Diocese said it was sorry to hear the pre-school closed as it was highly valued by Holy Cross but like many pre-schools was impacted by falling birth rates.