A CHURCH will be converted into a day nursery after a last-ditch bid to keep it as a place of worship failed.

Southampton City Council on Tuesday voted to allow St Jude’s Church in Shirley to be converted into a nursery.

It is now set to become the first neuro-divergent pre-school in Hampshire, looking after children who may struggle in regular nurseries.

The building, which has been vacant since March 2020, gained interest from a number of prospective buyers, and is set to be bought by Tiny Toes Day Nursery.

Once the nursery is complete, 120 children will attend every day.

This has caused a stir among both traffic-concerned residents and church-going Christians.

A spokesperson from the Southampton Romanian Orthodox Community said: “We have used the church main building for five years and we looked after it. We carried out work repairing it without asking for anything.

“We clearly would like to use it again and are willing to buy it and use it as a church.”

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He said the church had 400 members and a petition to reinstate it as a church garnered 1,400 signatures in a ‘short space of time.’

He went on to say: “Having a nursery is a respectful cause but let’s not forget this would be a private one and there are doubts over how this would fit in with the neighbourhood.”

Councillor Vivienne Windle also spoke at the Planning and Rights of Way Panel meeting about her fears for the effect on the area if the nursery were to open.

She said: “Although I walk or take the bus, just walking along the pavement at a nursery, it’s a nightmare.”

“Parents do three-point turns and desperately mount the pavement. I know a kind of madness takes over and you want to stop anywhere.”

Cllr Windle spoke of the ‘absolute traffic chaos’ that could ensue.

But Sasha Lewis, the director of Tiny Toes, said the nursery would give away 50 free lunches a day and help families who are struggling by offering free sessions.

She said: “Yes I am the director of Tiny Toes, but I am the mother of a child who is autistic.”

The new nursery will be an inclusive nursery, catering for children who have certain medical or mental conditions who may struggle in regular settings.

Ms Lewis added: “If this provision had been available for my own son when he was younger this would have saved him a considerable amount of anxiety.”