TOUGH security measures, including fingerprint scanning and passwords for parents, are to be put in place at a Bolton nursery.

Visitors to Bolton Day Nursery will soon find themselves having to undergo fingerprint scanning at the door, while all mobile phones will be banned from the nursery, and no parent will be allowed in without a child collection password.

Locks and fences will be upgraded, CCTV will be extended and no supplier will be allowed access without identification.

The £60,000 “supersafe” initiative is in response to parents’ feedback at the Chorley Street Nursery, inside the David Lloyd Leisure Club, about security being their top concern.

The new programme, if successful, will be rolled out across Asquith Nurseries’ 84 nurseries nationwide. Andy Morris, CEO of Asquith Nurseries, said: “Our top priority is child safety and security.

“This new programme goes further than ever before towards providing a totally safe environment for children entrusted to our care by parents.

“Ofsted obliges nurseries to carry out Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) checks and suggests verbal references for all staff recruited, but we are going way beyond that.

“We insist on written references and we have dedicated staff following up those checks and references. Additionally, I have banned mobile phones from all our nurseries to make sure no one can photograph children on the premises — and latest fingerprint technology is being installed as part of this security revolution at Asquith.”

The nursery, which has 37 places for children under two and 50 places for children aged two to five years, is holding an open day on Sunday June 27 from 11am to 2pm.