A NURSERY has been forced to close for over a month due to concern about the safety of its 70 children.

Youngsters at Blackburn’s Fernbank Nursery, who are aged from two to four, have been offered alternative temporary care in nearby nurseries.

Ofsted’s enforced closure comes following an incident concerning the general wellbeing of one of the pupils, which cannot be revealed for confidentiality reasons.

The 30-year-old nursery told the local safeguarding team at Blackburn with Darwen Council and Ofsted about the incident. Ofsted came to inspect the premises on Wednesday.

After finding a flaw in the nursery’s paperwork, Ofsted inspectors told staff to update their safeguarding policies, including the recording methods of accidents and incidents, which were not seen as ‘robust enough’.

An Ofsted notice, which has been put up on the entrance of the premises, reads: “The purpose of the suspension is to allow time to investigate our beliefs that a child may be exposed to a risk of harm and for necessary steps to be taken to eliminate or reduce the risk of harm.

“We will regularly review the situation and will stop the suspension within this period if we believe children are no longer at risk.”

This is not the first time concerns have been raised about the safety and welfare of children at Fernbank, with two other complaints made to Ofsted in 2013 and 2014.

A spokesman for Fernbank, on Lammack Road, said: “There was no risk of harm towards the children within the nursery. Children were and always have been in the safe care of our staff.”

Joanne Stewart, head of service early help and support at Blackburn with Darwen Council, added: “The welfare and safeguarding of children is paramount, and we will work with the nursery provider to support the implementation of any Ofsted recommendations or actions to resolve this.”

If the policy changes meet Ofsted’s standards the nursery will reopen on January 23.

Ofsted said it would be inappropriate to comment further during the investigation.