A COUNTY nursery has been forced to close its doors today after reports of a rodent inside the building.

Pear Tree Nursery West Road in Haddington informed parents last night that suspected sightings of the animal had been confirmed and they would close in order to conduct a ‘deep clean’.

The nursery provides early learning and childcare for children aged three months to five years and has two other sites in the town at Meadowpark and Church Road, both of which remain open as usual.

Staff had been made aware that a rodent was seen outside the premises earlier in the week but, upon further investigation, an animal was spotted inside last night.

Pest control have been made aware and the decision was made to close the nursery on safety grounds.

The nursery confirmed that all fees for today would be reimbursed and that any funded sessions would be rescheduled.

A cleaning company will now be brought in to solve the problem and the nursery will be in contact with parents to confirm whether the site will re-open on Friday.

A message to parents from the nursery said: “We have unfortunately discovered a rodent tonight within the nursery, therefore we will have to close tomorrow to organise an industrial cleaning company to come in and deep clean the nursery before allowing any children back into the building.

"We made pest control aware of this at the beginning of the week as one was spotted outdoors; unfortunately, we have now discovered them inside the building.

“All fees for tomorrow will be reimbursed and any funded sessions will be carried on to another day.

“So sorry for the inconvenience, especially so late at night, we only discovered this 10 minutes ago so we have acted as quickly as possible.

“We will be in touch regards to Friday when we have a cleaning company sorted."