COUNCIL chiefs are holding off the complete closure of two nurseries until August but still face legal action over the original decision to shut them.

The need to cut £17million from Darlington Borough Council's budget led to the cabinet voting in January to close the subsidised Kids and Co nurseries on Northwood and Borough Road, and councillors stuck to the decision despite it being examined by a scrutiny committee.

Union representatives and parents vowed to take the council to court and papers have now been served to the authority, with a judicial review date expected to be set within a month.

As a result of receiving legal notification, the council has agreed to keep the nurseries open for all current users until August 31 – initially the service was going to close to under three-year-olds this month, with only the older children allowed to stay until August.

Alex Peebles, an expert public lawyer at Irwin Mitchell’s Newcastle office is representing Sarah Walker, a Darlington parent who spearheaded the Save Kids and Co campaign.

He said parents were left with “no choice” but to issue court proceedings against the council.

He added: “There are 180 childcare places being lost with the closure of Kids and Co and our client is extremely concerned that there simply isn’t enough alternative provision to ensure her son gets a suitable place at another nursery.

“While we are relieved the council has agreed to keep the nursery open till August, this is still not enough of a commitment and we will continue to fight to save the service on behalf of our clients.

“Sarah and the other parents have many unanswered questions and we hope that a Judicial Review would provide the necessary answers and help to keep Kids and Co open.”

A council spokeswoman confirmed that the authority had agreed to keep the nurseries fully operational until August 31 but would not be taking on any new users within that period.

If the closures go ahead as planned, 43 jobs will be lost, costing the council £171,952 in redundancy payments.

However, the loss-making nurseries cost the council £212,000 annually and the authority is under no legal obligation to provide the Kids and Co service.