Parents are upset that a popular Darlington playgroup has been moved to make way for a private nursery.

The playgroup, which runs for two hours every morning at the new Firthmoor Community Centre, has had to close temporarily as organisers feel the room it has been allocated is not suitable for young children.

The Maidendale Community Nursery opened in April at a cost of £336,000, and was part of the £1.4m redevelopment of the community centre.

Some parents feel it is unfair that the playgroup - which has been established longer and has a full capacity of 35 children - has had to make way for the nursery, which recently attracted headlines for spending several weeks with no children enrolled.

Parents were bemused to find the playgroup was no longer allowed to use the rooms it shared with the nursery and would instead have to use a room that is also used by the youth club.

One of the parents, Lois Alexander-Weir, said: "They've only got a handful of kids there and we get on average about 20 per session.

"The playgroup was in the old building years before.

"The new room was no good - it was a nice room for older kids, but it had condom posters on the wall, a pool table and a football machine.

"Maybe it was because they thought the playgroup might be competition for the nursery, but I don't think the people who use the playgroup want to use a £22-a-day nursery."

Another parent, Kerry Drysdale, said: "One kid went straight into the new room and banged his head on the laminate floor. It's not child-friendly at all.

"My son had just got settled there and now he wants to go and he can't."

Firthmoor Community Centre manager Dave Preston blamed red tape, saying that the situation had arisen following a recent Ofsted inspection which ruled that there were too many children using the centre.

He said he hoped to have the playgroup up and running in the future but has to make sure the necessary paperwork is in order.

Mr Preston said: "It is very unfortunate that the red tape is stopping us from getting this sorted out at the minute.

"We apologise for any distress this has caused youngsters and their parents.

"We realise how important it is to have this facility in the community."