Parents have been left "devastated" after learning their children's pre-school is shutting down.

As parents arrived at Poppets Pre-School in Orpington to pick up their children on Monday (January 22) they were told at the door that the facility will be closing on March 31.

Kevin Colwell, the minister of Poverest Baptist Church, where the pre-school is based, was there to inform upset parents.

One mum, Suzanne Bradshaw, 38, told News Shopper she doesn't know where her son will go once the pre-school shuts.

She said: "I was in shock. My son was supposed to be there until the end of July before primary school. I have no idea what I am going to do. It is a vital period.

"Four months is a lot of time out of education. I am panicking what to do like the other mums. Lots of nurseries are already full.

"We are getting a lot of different stories. One is that they cannot afford to run it and another is that the building is in disrepair. We are not getting the full story.

"We are all very angry. If it was a money issue all they had to do was talk to parents. We could have set up some fundraising things. But there has been no communication from the church."

She added the staff had been "fantastic" and were as shocked as the parents.

Mr Colwell told News Shopper: "It was purely a financial reason. The number of children coming into the school in the last year has diminished. 

"We decided insolvency was the way we were heading. We are trying to secure places in other schools for the children.

"We don't have enough money to pay wages after Easter. We appreciate parents are responsable in trying to find new pre-schools but we are helping in that." 

Bright Beginnings Pre-School, located just over a mile away, told News Shopper that they would be happy to offer children places.

A spokeswoman said: "We have got people coming in to look at places and we are doing the best we can. People are free to come and visit us."