MOTHERS in Horwich say their keep-fit plans have been thrown into chaos by the closure of a leisure centre’s creche.

Serco, which runs Horwich Leisure Centre in Victoria Road, has announced that the creche will shut today.

Concerned mums have contacted the centre but have been told the facility has been reviewed and the closure is due to lack of attendance.

Laura Kozera, aged 30, of St George’s Lane, Horwich, takes her one-year-old son Jake to the creche once a week.

She said: “I think it is very important for new mums to be able to get access to exercise and it is very difficult when you have a young child.

“There was not much consultation with parents about this. This was not a free facility and I have seen it very busy at times. During school holidays I have struggled to get in.

“This is a great facility and myself and other mums are now concerned that we will struggle to get access to exercise.”

Louise Ainscough, from Beaumont Chase, Bolton, has two children Jorja, aged three, and Hannah, aged seven-and-a-half months.

She said: “Everywhere you go, you see posters telling you there is no excuse not to exercise, but this is ruling out mums.

“I have been to a number of parent and toddler groups and they think it is a brilliant facility. The worst thing about this was the lack of notice.”

Shirley Wilkinson, operations manager for Bolton Community Leisure Trust, said in letters to parents: “The creche is an additional facility for customers at the centre and the review was based on attendance over the last 12 months.

“It has not been an easy decision to make to close the creche and I do understand the impact to our customers who use it.

“We have explored a number of avenues in the past, including inviting a private nursery to have the opportunity to use the facility for a daytime nursery. This did not materialise.”