A MANAGER of a pre-school playgroup, which plans to open in a Scout hut close to the M5 in Halesowen, has given parents an assurance the premises are safe.

Emma Clarke, deputy manager of the playgroup currently based at Lapal Primary School, said the Howley Grange Scout Hut was already used by a before and after school club.

She was speaking to allay fears of parents expressed in last week’s News who were worried about possible effects of vehicle emissions on young children.

An application has been sent to Ofsted to register the playgroup at the Bournebrook Crescent Scout hut and Miss Clarke said inspectors would have the final say over whether the premises were suitable and safe.

The playgroup is closing at Lapal because the portable building from which it operates in the grounds of the primary school is no longer fit for purpose.

It will open as Lapal Grange Pre-school Ltd in September at the Scout hut, providing Ofsted approve it, with Miss Clarke and current business manager Stephanie Carless as directors.

Miss Clarke said: “It is a brick-built hut which is a lot safer and has a nice grass area for the children to play on. There are no health and safety issues.”

She added: “We did investigate with the school, looking at other options to stay but nothing was either suitable or affordable.”

Miss Clarke acknowledged that some parents may find it “awkward” to have children at the playgroup and Lapal Primary in terms of dropping off and collecting.

But she said others had older children at a range of schools, and she also is a mother who will have to make a journey.

Parents, including Kirsty Hunter and Caroline Chalmers, have expressed concerns at the relocation to the Scout hut and a delegation of several parents attended last month’s Halesowen North and South Community Forum appealing for help from councillors.

But Miss Clarke said: “Only one parent came to me and told me of their concerns.”

She added: “We have had a lot of positive feedback, - the Scout hut is closer for some parents to their homes and it will be better for those whose children go to Howley Grange Primary School and it’s the staff they come for, who are very highly regarded.”