THE WELL-loved Jubilee Nursery in Steep near Petersfield is closing next month with the owner now unable to make it pay.

Rachel Goodchild, who took the nursery over from her mother, says Government regulations giving children 15 free nursery hours a week are losing her thousands of pounds a year.

She is very reluctant to close the nursery for two to five year olds, as it has been thriving since 1977 when it was set up by her late mum Janet in the Petersfield home of her friend Edna Dodd. It moved to Steep Village Hall in 1982.

But she can’t carry on as she is losing up to £660 a year per child with the regulations brought in several years ago. She is fed up, too, with all the assessments needed for youngsters as young as two.

“I am very upset about it as my mum started it up and I used to work alongside her. We have seen generations come through,” she said. “I have the same ethos as my mum did – if they can wipe their own noses, put on their PE kit and say please and thank you then they have made a good start. They come here to play.

“The parents are gutted too. We are are trying to make it as normal as possible for the children.”

There will be a Christmas party on the last day, December 17, and a toy sale there on December 19.

Rachel, mum to two daughters aged 11 and 15, is unsure what she will do next.