FURIOUS parents are battling to save their children's nursery after council funding was withdrawn.

Parents were outraged when they were given just six days' notice to make alternative arrangements for their children's care.

But in a last-ditch bid to rescue Pinocchio's Nursery, in Bishopbriggs, its owners have offered to foot the bill for the kids' nursery places for a year while they fight to keep it open.

Earlier this month the Evening Times revealed that council funding was also removed from Clarence House nursery in Maryhill, plunging working parents into chaos.

The group launched a petition and is planning to join other parents in the campaign, Fair Funding for Our Kids, which is demanding Glasgow City Council rethinks its funding strategy for private nurseries.

Parents whose children attend Pinocchio's said funding was cut after a Care Inspectorate report criticised the nursery's admin system.

Parents Fiona Peat, Mark Davis, Ayisha Weatherall, Ashley Snelling, Bob Keith, Melanie Jennings and Michelle Murdoch have joined forces to demand a U-turn.

Mum-of-two Fiona said: "We were very saddened to hear that Pinocchio's has lost its status as a partnership nursery. We believe that the decision is based on a grading from the Care Inspectorate.

"We have asked the council to clarify which inspection report this is based on, as we are led to believe that the grading used is out of date and the nursery has been working very hard to improve on this, and subsequent reports reflect this.

"We feel that six days is insufficient time for us to identify a preferred childcare provider.

"We absolutely do not want to move our children from Pinocchio's. Some of the children have been there since they were babies - they are very happy. "

Pinocchio's Nursery confirmed they will pay the funding to save parents taking their kids out.

A spokeswoman said: "The continuity of care for the children is paramount to us and therefore we have decided to honour the funding for the coming year.

"We are very disappointed that we failed to gain partnership status on the recent round of procurement tender with East Dunbartonshire Council to provide pre-school grant allocation.

The council's children's services and education director, Gordon Currie, said he understood the concerns of parents.

He added: "East Dunbartonshire Council, as part of a formal tender process, invited bids for the provision of services for Early Learning and Childcare.

"Should any of the tenders submitted by the partners not be successful, the Council's Early Years and Childcare Team will work with parents to offer alternative early learning and childcare options for their child within local authority or partner providers."

janice.burns@ eveningtimes.co.uk