EQUIPMENT in the outdoor area of an Inadequate Bradford nursery was full of "stagnant water" and babies were able to put paint from toys in their mouths.

Ark Private Day Nursery, in Halifax Road, was given the lowest rating possible when visited by Ofsted on September 28.

In the report, the inspector, Rachel Waterhouse, scored the setting - which had 53 children on the roll at the time of the visit, and 18 members of staff - Inadequate across the board.

This includes: the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and leadership and management.

The report, which was published on November 15, said leaders at the nursery do not take steps to ensure all areas are safe for children.

It stated: "Staff have not been effectively supported to recognise and remove hazards before children access the environment.

"For example, on inspection, children accessed the outdoor area where equipment was full of stagnant water.

"Additionally, babies were able to peel paint off wooden toys and put this to their mouths."

The nursery also received criticism for its safeguarding arrangements.

The report stated: "Overall, staff have limited knowledge of signs and symptoms of abuse and wider safeguarding issues, such as extreme behaviours or exploitation."

But parents and carers see the setting as a caring place for children to attend, who enjoy songs and stories within their play, as well as exploring their indoor and outdoor environments.

Rachael Strong, owner of Ark Private Day Nursery, said: "We are very disappointed with our latest Ofsted result.

"We are working with Bradford Early Years who have been a great help and are supporting us and will carry on offering support over the next few months."

Ofsted issued two targets for the setting to meet by October 30.

This was, ensuring all areas of the environment are safe prior to children accessing them and ensuring all staff have secure and up-to-date knowledge of safeguarding and the procedure to follow if a child is at risk.

The nursery has tried to tackle the first of these issues by redesigning the garden and implementing a new and more in-depth risk assessment, which all staff complete before going out daily.

It has identified training needs for some staff, which has been completed, and there are also training meetings to help them gain the confidence on how to report and explain in depth the correct procedures, in relation to the second target.

The nursery also held two meetings with parents last week to address the Ofsted result and Mrs Strong said they felt the report was not a "true reflection" of the setting.

She added: "Most importantly of all we wanted to inform our parents of the Ofsted result in a productive way and explain it all to them.

"This was done last week where we held two meetings in which parents were given the chance to ask questions and bring forward any concerns that they had in relation to the outcome/result.

"Our parents were very happy that we held the meeting for them and are positive about the coming few months.

"Our parents have been a massive support and feel that the report is not a true reflection of our setting.

"They are behind the team and some parents are wanting to work with the team to support us where they can.

"We get on well with all our parents and have a great relationship with them.

"We have received many comments of support from our parents (which parents are happy to share).

"All actions will be completed on time as stated by Ofsted and we are just going to carry on embedding the changes that we have made and carry on supporting and working with our team and parents."