Village pre-school Oare Kids could be forced to close if more children don’t enrol for the next intake.

The pre-school, which meets in the village hall, has been running for at least 25 years and is attended by 10 children.

This will drop to four in September when the older children start primary school. To remain sustainable, at least six more children need to start in either September or January.

If new pupils do not come forward, the committee will start making provision to shut down at the end of May.

Oare Kids chairman Sarah Hayat’s three-year-old daughter, Molly, goes to the pre-school, her four-year-old son Alexander went there before starting primary school and her two-year-old daughter Ella is to start next year.

She said: “I think it would be a huge loss to the community. All pre-schools are struggling at the moment and we can only assume that we’ve been hit harder because we’re quite rural.

“Even if I didn’t have children who use it I would fight to keep it open because it’s a fantastic pre-school where the children don’t have to battle 30 other children for attention.”

Oare Kids employs two members of staff.

Mrs Hayat said: “If it did have to close it would probably be lost forever because it is committee-led so it would need a whole new committee and everything would have to start from scratch.”

Children can attended between 9am and noon or 9am to 2pm. On Wednesdays the pre-school meets in nearby Wilcot for outdoor activities.

To enrol a child, get in touch with Liz Harness on (01672) 562981 or go to www.oarekids.org.uk