STAFF and parents at a city nursery are overjoyed following a council funding U-turn.

Five days after the Evening Times revealed the Little Branches nursery in Govan was under threat of closure, council chiefs have reversed a decision to cease funding.

Nursery bosses said they would be forced to close should the authority go ahead with their plans to withdraw funding for 20 places, reducing the number of paid-for places to 16.

After days of discussion and meetings, Glasgow City Council have offered to pay for 30 places at the facility, meaning the centre will no longer have to close.

Run by Glasgow City Mission for 28 years, the nursery not only provided childcare but was described by locals as a community hub and somewhere people could get support and help.

Manager Anne Scott was given an Evening Times Community Champion award just days before the funding withdrawal for her hard work and dedication to the community.

Glasgow City Mission Chief Executive Grant Campbell said: "We are delighted and relieved that Glasgow City Council have listened to us and importantly to the community of Govan and now fully appreciated what the Child & Family Centre means to Govan.

"Our grievance was that the procurement process did not take this into account.

"We welcome the decision made by Glasgow City Council this evening and look forward to re-opening our Child & Family Centre doors in August.

"We have been very humbled by the support shown toward Glasgow City Mission from the community of Govan and across the city."

Laura Donnelly, 29, whose four-year-old daughter Darah attends the nursery said: "It's absolutely brilliant news, it has made my day completely.

"All my family went there, and I went there myself so it means so much, it's very emotional, and it will make a whole lot of people in the community very happy."

Elaine White, a former parent, said: "The families this place has helped are too numerous to count, but none of them will ever forget how the centre and staff made them feel."