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Parents 'in tears' after popular nursery forced to close amid soaring energy bills and 'lack of funding'

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Parents say they have been left devastated after a popular nursery in Tameside has been forced to permanently close. Funtasia First Steps nursery in Stalybridge announced the closure earlier this week, with the owner saying that running the centre had been a 'constant up hill battle' since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dozens of parents, who have described the nursery as 'absolutely brilliant' and 'the best thing for their children,' told the M.E.N they had been left in tears over the planned closure. READ MORE: Staff fuming after company tells them to move to Romania or risk losing job They have launched a petition called 'save our nursery' and are calling for help from the local community, and key political figures, in the hope it can be saved before shutting on March 31.

But the nursery's owner, Karen Saderson, said she believes it's too late for the centre, which cares for 21 children. She cited low admissions since the pandemic, along with soaring energy bills, and a 'lack of government funding' as the primary reasons why the business is no longer sustainable. "I think now we are really seeing the true effect of Covid," she said. "Since 2019 there has been a steady decline in numbers as now more people are working from home. "Our energy bills have gone through the roof and we have been trying to subsidise the nursery for so long but it's just not sustainable.

We opened in 2018 and had two good years. "The difference between a funded place and what it actually costs to look after them is £3 per child, which as a nursery we have had to subsidise.

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