A mum says she's in shock after her daughter's nursery announced it was shutting down.

The sudden closure of YMCA Oakfield nursery in Dartford means Kelly Cattermole's four-year-old Holly will be left without a nursery place from Easter until September, when she is due to begin primary school.

On Monday, the mother received an email from the nursery in Oakfield Lane informing parents of the closure and that March 31 would be the last day.

It read: "Due to the increased cost of living coupled with a severe shortage of childcare staff, means we’re no longer financially able to cover the costs of offering this service.

"Government funding rates – the amount we receive as a business for the ‘free’ places we offer – fall very short of covering our basic costs, and because of the lack of staff available, we’ve been forced to use agency workers, which substantially increases our costs."

In response, Kelly said: "I was shocked to have received that email.

"The nursery was at full capacity so this affects not only me but many other parents who rely on their child attending there.

"With less than two weeks' notice my daughter will now be without a nursery place from Easter to September."

Kelly said it would be a struggle to balance her duties as a mother and her work.

She said: "This saddens me greatly when mums are encouraged to go back to work and are told the government are doing all they can, when in truth it is appears to be the opposite.

"I am now facing the same situation as Covid: having to try to work full time with a child at home, putting myself under immense pressure when this isn’t accepted by my employer and my daughter is not receiving the enrichment she is entitled to or my time as I have to work."

She added: "KCC is constantly adding new housing. Where will these children go when the nurseries they have are closing down and they can’t accommodate the children already here? What will happen with the unused facility?

"These years are very important for children, not only for their learning but for their social skills, and to leave many children without that makes no sense especially those that are transitioning to primary school in September."

Kelly has emailed Dartford MP Gareth Johnson to see if a fund can be accessed so the nursery could at least see out the school year.

She said this could benefit many children while it attempts to recruit to permanent positions, allowing parents the chance to make thought-out alternative arrangements.

The mum has also created a petition in the hopes to raise awareness of all parents' issues and find an alternative to having the nursery close down.

She said: "I would like to get any help and advice we can for all the families in the same position after receiving this devastating news in the hope something can be done to keep the nursery open, even if it’s just to the end of the school year so the children aren’t just forgotten.

You can sign it here.

Amantha Latouche, director of communities at YMCA said: " The closure of Oakfield Nursery was not a decision taken lightly. This was also made before the budget announcement last week.

"Although the Government have shared figures for how this hourly increase benefits parents, at the time of writing, we are yet to receive this data as a childcare provider.

"We need to understand what the financial increases are for providers and the timeline for when these will happen – once we have this data, we will be able to look into this further.

"Our Chief Executive is meeting with the leaders of other YMCAs next week to discuss this as, to date, there is a massive gap in understanding about the ultimate impact on childcare providers."