Nursery nightmare

Sandra Cook, Susan Anchor and Beverley Greenwood outside the arson-hit building

Toddlers were left in tears after their nursery was hit by arsonists — the fourth time it has been vandalised this year.

Shocked staff at Moorside Pre-School and Nursery were faced with a huge clean-up operation yesterday morning, likely to run into thousands of pounds.

Mindless vandals threw a children’s slide through a back window and set fire to blinds and window frames. The fire left the Haven Lane building charred, covered in soot and smoke damage. The nursery has now closed for the foreseeable future.

Yobs have previously broken all the toys in a storage area, destroyed a sand pit and left beer cans scattered over the garden. In another attack, bikes, rides, building bricks and toys for children with special needs were stolen. And several years ago, every window was smashed.

Lottery millionaire Tommy Cone, of Ripponden Road, came to the rescue last year when he donated £2,500 to repair damage.

The nursery has since won a grant for security fencing and improvements to the building but staff were left wishing the process had been quicker to prevent this latest attack. Administrator Sandra Cook said: “It’s dreadful. I don’t know how we will clean it up. We have had quite a bit of damage in the last 12 months but nothing as bad as this. It’s so upsetting.”

She said nursery owner Janet Clegg was away and would be devastated by the news. Two rabbits in the building appear unharmed.

Mum Rachel Woods said: “My three-year-old boy was in tears. It’s really sad.”

Police are investigating.