THE decision to close the last local authority owned nursery will be further scrutinised, it has emerged.

The Bolton News revealed yesterday that the decision had been taken to shut Harvey Nursery in Great Lever at the end of the academic year.

But before that date is set in stone, the controversial closure will be re-examined by Bolton Council's scrutiny committee.

A Bolton Council spokesman said: "A council spokesperson said: "This proposal is one of the difficult decisions the council will have to consider due to the challenging financial situation we are facing.

"A plan was put forward in 2018 to secure the future of Harvey Nursery which was dependant on reaching 75 per cent capacity and bringing charges in line with other childcare providers. The nursery has never achieved 75 per cent and in September was only 44 per cent full.

"We consulted on proposals to close the nursery in September and invited alternative proposals from schools and providers to make the nursery more sustainable. No viable proposals were received. We have exhausted all options to make the nursery more sustainable.

"The decision to close will now be considered further by the children’s services scrutiny committee.

"If the nursery closes we will support the families of children on roll to find alternative childcare provision and look to redeploy staff into other areas of the council wherever possible.”