A NURSERY nurse who was accused of hurting young children in her care during an incident at work has been cleared of any wrong-doing by an employment tribunal.

Miss Melanie Potts (24) had worked at Educare for Early Years nursery in Walshaw Road, Bury, for seven years, when, in February, her manager Miss Donna Alexander said a complaint had been made against her.

A member of staff had reported seeing Miss Potts sitting children down harshly against the wall, forcing them to bang their heads.

Miss Alexander also told Miss Potts, who worked in a supervisory role, that because of the complaint, she would not be able to support her fully if a parent asked about a bruise on a child.

Miss Potts, of Heatherside Road, Ramsbottom, left work for the weekend, and worried about the matter until she returned to work.

She then asked to see the nursery owner, Mrs Amanda Owen, to discuss the matter, but she did not arrive and Miss Potts arranged staff cover and left work.

A meeting was finally held two days later, when both Mrs Owen and Miss Alexander denied making the allegations and said Miss Potts would have to face disciplinary charges for her behaviour when she left work.

Miss Potts collected her belongings and left the building, sending a letter of resignation a few days later. After taking the matter to an employment tribunal, the panel ruled her claim for unfair constructive dismissal was "well-founded" and she won her case. Miss Potts now works as an out-of-school clubs manager and classroom assistant at St Marie's RC Primary School, Bury, and is looking forward to getting on with her life.

She said: "I worked at the nursery for seven years and I absolutely loved my job. I would still be there now if this hadn't happened. But the way they treated me after all that time was very disappointing. They had no evidence to back-up their allegations and nothing was ever recorded in the incident book to say that children had been hurt. I would have liked the manager and owner to have shown me more respect and actually listened to what I had to say.

"I am glad that my name has finally been cleared and I can put a stop to all the rumours about why I left. It put a real strain on my life.

"If the tribunal had agreed with the nursery, my whole career would have gone down the drain. I started working there when I was 16, and had never had another job.

"I have been very lucky to find another one while this was all going on. It's such a relief that it's all over."

Miss Potts is now waiting for a date to be set for a hearing to decide whether she should receive compensation for lack of earnings.

The Bury Times approached Mrs Owen and Miss Alexander, but they both declined to comment.