A BRADFORD nursery is to close its doors with "great reluctance".

Lady Castle Nursery, located in the grounds of Bradford Girls' Grammar School, will shut at the end of June.

One parent of a child at the nursery raised concern over the closure and said there had been "no consultation provided, no effort to raise money, raise fees or make cutbacks".

The mum said she feared the transition to other nurseries in a short period would be "very difficult" and she had already called around others, but was unable to get the days required.

She described Lady Castle as a "key part of the community".

Formerly part of Lady Royd Pre-Preparatory, the Early Years stage of Bradford Girls’ Grammar School, the nursery, named after Lady Barbara Castle, now operates as a separate unit.

Nursery director Alison Cooper said: "The decision to close Lady Castle Nursery on June 30 was taken with great reluctance and after in-depth consideration of a wide range of external factors that have affected the early years’ sector over a number of years. ​

"We were very mindful of the impact that this decision will have on our community, but sadly no alternative arrangement was viable."

She added: "It is widely acknowledged that there has been national underfunding of the early years’ sector for a number of years. 

"In Bradford, there has been a decline in demand for early years’ places which pre-dates the Covid pandemic, birth rates have declined year-on-year since 2013. 

"This has been exacerbated in the last two years by the pandemic, with the additional difficulty in recruiting high quality staff. 

"Against this backdrop, early years’ support services provided by Bradford Council have diminished, with the consequence that these services now have to be covered by nursery management and staff."

However, a Bradford Council spokesperson said it continues to provide a "full package of support to all early years settings in the private, voluntary and independent sector and throughout the pandemic worked with settings where possible to provide increased levels of financial support.”

Ms Cooper added: "At Lady Castle Nursery we are proud of keeping our children safe and providing the highest standard of education and care.

"Whilst optimising the efficiency of the setting over recent years we would never consider any change that would compromise that standard for our children and their parents. 

"As always the nursery manager and her team will be working closely with our parents to support them to find alternatives for their child and ensure their transition to a new setting is as smooth as possible. 

"We have also secured full 30-hours funded entitlement from April to June."