Speedy reopening for nursery destroyed by fire

A nursery has reopened in new buildings only weeks after it was destroyed by fire.

The blaze in the early hours of 10 March engulfed two converted barns at Tigers Day Nurseries on Turnpike Road, Thatcham, Berkshire.

The nursery temporarily reopened at its former site 10 miles (16km) away in Theale, while modular buildings were put in place at Thatcham which opened to children on Monday.

Nursery founder Alison Huntley said: "It was quite emotional really, just seeing people come back up again, seeing the children back in the garden and play, and it's really lovely."

She added "I've been on this site for 30 years, so as devastating as it was, and as awful as it was, I wasn't going to be put off at all.

"It was always our mission to keep the business going… we've got over 200 families that use us.

"It's like a massive knock-on effect, it affects so many people, so we were determined to get back up and running as soon as we could."

She praised the people who worked "evenings, weekends... our flooring people, our electrical contractors, our builders, they've all gone that extra mile, the staff have stayed and done extra hours just so that we can get it ready and open".

Previously Huntley said she arrived at the nursery - for children aged from three months to five years - in the early hours to see "massive flames".

"It was absolutely huge. There was about six fire engines... it was just massive, I have never seen anything like it."

Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service said checks had not shown any indications the fire was deliberate. There were no injuries.

"When you think about it, we literally lost everything," Huntley explained.

"There was nothing left, it wasn't like we had part of something left, we literally had nothing left, so it was like starting from scratch basically."

She said the returning children were "nervous" to start with, but that changed "once they got in and saw the staff, all the new toys, and the resources".

"They're all backed onto our lovely wild garden now which is fabulous... so it's wonderful that they can just have direct access now, so it's been good."