A dream of opening a children's nursery in a dilapidated pub has come to an end after a catalogue of red tape hurdles, according to its owners.

Business partners Laura Hollands and Eve Poynter had been hoping to welcome toddlers to the Hedgehogs pre-school at the former Green Lion pub in Rainham.

They have forked out more than £5,000 on specialists and architects and carried out surveys to comply with regulations to convert the Grade-II listed High Street building.

Initially, they say they were told their application submitted in October was favourable and they started enrolling little ones, stencilling their logo outside and started to decorate the inside.

But earlier this year, they were confronted with more requirements to be met and their opening date was delayed.

The latest hurdle, which came this month from the highways department, was the final straw.

They have removed all parking on site for the nursery following concerns but have since been told this could "compound the issue as parents and carers are more likely to park indiscriminately".

They are now faced with the task of telling 50 families they will have to make alternative arrangements. They had also planned to take on 15 extra staff, including apprentices.

Laura said: "We are at the end of road. We have jumped through every hoop. We have been told our application was unlikely to succeed and cannot afford to appeal. We have run out of money.

"We were offering a beautiful building in what is an empty place in the town.

"We had planned to engage with the community, including nearby care homes, and we are eco-friendly.

"It seems they would prefer an empty building which will be used as a dumping ground and vandalised and probably be used by squatters and drug users."

The women, who founded Hedgehogs Childcare in 2016, fell in love with the empty historic former coach house in July.

Their research showed there was a need for a nursery in the town, the others being over-subscribed.

They also felt the demand was evident with increased housing developments in the area and the high number of commuters using Rainham railway station needing child care.

However, among the concerns raised were parking, pollution and the dropping off and picking up of children.

Former primary school teacher Laura said another objection made was the noise the nursery might cause.

She said: "It is ridiculous could possibly be noisier than a pub with Sky Sports, loud music, rowdy adults drinking late into the night all day, every day."

She said they have hired heritage and listed-building specialists, soundproof experts, architects and traffic surveyors.

Existing tenants living above the pub were happy with their nursery proposal as they would have the place to their own at weekends at evenings

She said they had agreed to the highways officers' parking, dropping-off and picking-up requirements.

The company has a head office in Hills Terrace, Chatham, and nurseries in Rochester and Hempstead.

"We were offering a beautiful building in what is an empty place in the town"

She added: "It's very sad, but we will still look for somewhere else in Rainham and hope we don't come across the same problems.

"We have built up a good reputation and are families are loyal to us with many able to travel to our other sites."

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