A Brentwood nursery which was given an 'inadequate' Ofsted rating has “temporarily closed”.

Clever Clogs Day Nursery directors sent a letter to parents, which this newspaper has seen, confirming the provision was to “temporarily close” after March 11.

An Ofsted spokesperson confirmed it was notified by the school that it would be closing on this date.

This comes after a Clever Clogs parents' information evening brought up “key themes that parents wanted reassurance” across, the letter said.

It also comes after the nursery - previously rated 'good' in 2019 - was labelled 'inadequate' by Ofsted after an inspection in November.

The closure letter said: "We know this decision will be unpopular and unpalatable, particularly when you have remained with us throughout the challenge of the last few months, but our commitment must be to the standard of service we offer, particularly in relation to our staff consistently meeting the expected standards."

Clever Clogs is “disappointingly not currently reflecting the trajectory of all other nurseries in the chain," the letter adds.

The letter offered support to parents looking to transfer to a new childcare service.

Its sister site, Clever Tots Nursery in Crescent Road, Brentwood, remains closed.

But the letter said the directors are “working diligently” to reopen it with a new management team.

Clever Clogs was contacted for comment but did not respond.