A NURSERY in Malvern threatened with closure should be granted a two-year reprieve in order to boost its numbers, a group of councillors has ruled.

The nursery at Malvern Hills Primary School has just three children on its books and earlier this year Worcestershire County Council's cabinet took the decision to close it down.

The nursery, which can take up to 26 children, costs the council almost £30,000 a year to maintain, but only opens in the mornings. With three children on its books this works out at almost £10,000 per child.

However, the decision was called in by eight councillors and the council's overview and scrutiny committee is now recommending that the cabinet looks again at the future of the nursery.

Committee chairman Councillor John Buckley said: "We think the school should be allowed two years to get some stability and boost numbers.

"We urge the cabinet to make sure the authority and the school governing body work to find a solution to provide a nursery provision that fits the community."

Malvern Hills Primary School has been placed on special measures by Ofsted twice in the past six years but has managed to get a reprieve on both occasions.

In 2005, the county council decided to close the school but this was overturned by an independent adjudicator. The council then started looking into closing the nursery.

The overview and scrutiny committee said it was concerned the cabinet would be riding roughshod over the adjudicator's decision by closing the nursery and it wanted to allow the school time to work on a plan for the future.

Coun Peter Pinfold said: "The people of this community deserve another look at this scenario. Cabinet needs to look again at this."

The committee heard that inaccurate information had been given to the cabinet when making its decision in terms of other nurseries available in the area.

Coun Liz Tucker said just a handful of other nurseries fell within 1.5 miles of the school, most of which were either full or involved walking across very busy roads.

Defending the decision to close the nursery, Councillor Liz Eyre said she was concerned about the welfare of children at the nursery and value for money for the council tax payer.

She said: "Three children in a room do not have the right social interaction. It is the children's education I am most concerned about."

The council's cabinet will be asked to reconsider its decision to close the nursery at its meeting in June.