A village pre-school threatened with closure following the sale of its premises has secured its future two miles away.

In January, East Farleigh Preschool, which runs out of the Old School Hall, in Lower Road, was told it would need to find a new home as the owners of the hall were putting it on the market.

But, unfortunately for them, they still have to move out of the site and relocate to Maidstone.

Manager Angela Crisp explained: “We had a lot of support but you cannot magic up a building. We could not find anywhere in the village.

“Everyone is very sad, we have been here for a long time, all our children came here. The primary school is up the road so most of the children then go there.

“It is a nice, little, village preschool. It is sad the village is going to lose that.”

The charity-run preschool has been in East Farleigh for almost 50 years but the team were unable to find anywhere suitable nearby and feared they would have to close.

After months of looking, they were able to secure the lease on the former Little Stars site, at South Borough Primary School, in Stagshaw Close, Maidstone, – less than a 10-minute drive away.

Angela added: “We were not ready to close, we all work really well together and we wanted to carry that on to a new place.

“We have had lovely support from all the families. Most of the children are going to come with us. We have a lot of people come in to view us.

“We are really excited about it. It is our own space and will be our own preschool. We are really sad to leave but it is really exciting to have our own space.

“There is a lot that is hard to do here as we are a pack-away nursery so it is really exciting to be able to do so much more.

“We can have a dedicated gravel and sandpit. The room can be exactly as we want it to be. It will be nice and fresh.”

They will be operating under the name Little Fawns Preschool and are welcoming children from two to four years old in September.

The nursery’s last day in East Farleigh was Monday, July 24, and staff buried a time capsule to commemorate their time there.