RELIGIOUS leaders have ordered a nursery school to leave its church home after accusing it of promoting Hinduism. The doors of the Starlets Nursery at Chatham will shut for the last time on December 31 because the church is not happy with the education provided by the managers.

Children at the nursery, at the Kings Church, had been learning about Diwali - the festival of light celebrated by the Hindi religion. But the church believes this should not be taught in a Christian based nursery.

The Rev Grant Gill, Pastor of the Kings Church, said: "A Christian run school should major on the basis of Christ not festivals of Hindi Goddesses." When the nursery breaks up for the Christmas festivities it will be the final time they use the building.

In January the church intends to use the area formally rented by the group to enable the continuing growth of the church and provide space for new areas of church work. The Kent Parent and Fostering Association will gain access to some of the building and the church will run its own smaller nursery.

A meeting between parents and representatives from the church will be held there at 7pm on Friday, December 14. It is hoped that parents will not have to face the prospect having no childcare facilities. Staff are also now trying to find new jobs in the area and could face unemployment.

Husband and wife team Jill and Russ Russell set up the nursery. It was a lifetime ambition of Jill and the couple spent their life savings setting up the business.

She said: "We have spent £15,000 getting the nursery up and running. My husband and I have worked really hard to get things running smoothly it has just started to become successful. We have built up a good reputation, the children enjoy the nursery. I would never of started it up at the church if I had known that I can only rent the building for two years."

An original verbal agreement made by the church and the Russell's was that they could rent the space for a period of five years. But the church changed its mind and gave the Russell's six months notice to leave in July.

Starlets would like to find a new venue in the Medway Towns and are appealing for anyone who can offer suitable premises. The group can be contacted through the Medway Messenger/Medway Today newsdesk on 01634 821326.