A nursery where a toddler wandered off-site and into a road has been temporarily shut down by Ofsted.

Bossingham Pre-School, near Canterbury, was closed on Friday with the government watchdog “looking into concerns” at the site.

“We have suspended the registration for Bossingham Pre-School while we look into concerns,” said an Ofsted spokesperson.

“A suspension is in place for an initial period of six weeks and the reasons for suspension are reviewed regularly during this time.”

KentOnline revealed earlier this year how a two-year-old who attended the nursery was found standing in the middle of Bossingham Road, hundreds of yards away from the education facility.

A postal worker who was making a special delivery in the area at the time of the incident on June 12 rescued the toddler.

“I sprinted from my van running down the middle of the road and grabbed the little girl, who stood as stiff as a board,” said Royal Mail employee Leanne Porter.

“The road is a bus route and has big vehicles on it and a car would not have seen her as she was on the corner in the middle of the road - anything could have hit the little girl.

“She could’ve been run over, abducted or ended up wandering off into the woods.”

Ms Porter returned the tot to the pre-school, but the child’s parents immediately unenrolled their little girl and reported the incident to Ofsted.

The watchdog declined to say why Bossingham had been closed when asked by KentOnline this week.

But guidance on its website makes clear that a childcare provider’s registration is only suspended when there is the belief that children may be at risk of harm.

“We have suspended the registration for Bossingham Pre-School while we look into concerns...”

It says: “Sometimes we need to suspend a provider’s registration. We only do this if we believe a child or children may be at risk of harm.

“This does not always mean that the [school] has done something wrong - it gives [Ofsted] or other agencies, such as the police or the local authority, time to look into concerns.”

After receiving a complaint on Monday, June 12, about childcare provisions at the site, the watchdog visited the pre-school the following Friday.

Inspectors subsequently instructed managers to improve staff’s knowledge of safeguarding policy, increase children’s supervision and “ensure risks to children's safety are identified, removed or minimised, in particular while children are playing outdoors”.

Nevertheless, the school holds a ‘good’ Ofsted rating.

During a follow-up visit on June 28, inspectors found that some of the issues raised had been addressed, but others still remained.

Bossingham Pre-School staff were told their training in catering for children’s educational, emotional and developmental needs was still not up to scratch.

Inspectors also found the areas designated for the preparation of food were not being hygienically maintained at all times and that further action was needed to minimise hazards to children.

Revisiting the site once more on July 18, Ofsted was assured that action had been taken to resolve all issues raised.

Ofsted declined to tell KentOnline whether it had received new complaints about the nursery or whether the site had been reinspected since July.