CHILDREN in a Waterside village will be deprived of a new pre-school unless extra cash can be found, the Daily Echo can reveal.

Marchwood Community Association wants to ease the shortage of pre-school provision locally, but looks set to scrap the proposal amid fears it would make an annual loss of £5,000.

The only available room at the village hall is too small to house the number of children needed to make the scheme financially viable.

Now the project is likely to be abandoned unless the local parish council agrees to help fund it.

Marchwood already has two pre-schools, but new homes are springing up in the area and the demand for places is likely to rise.

Hall manager Barbara Allen said: "An additional pre-school is desperately needed, but the room can hold only 14 children, which means the project wouldn't be financially viable.

"I'd say the chances of it going ahead are slim-to-none unless the parish council can come up with something long-term."

The proposal has been approved by Ofsted and the association already has much of the equipment needed, but research has shown that the pre-school would make major losses.

Parish council chairman Darryl Hindle agreed the association was being hindered by lack of floorspace.

He told fellow councillors: "If they could use the larger room at the hall it wouldn't be a problem but that's heavily booked up, so it looks as if the pre-school is going to fall at the final hurdle."

District councillor Graham Walmsley said parents should be asked if they would be willing to dig deeper into their pockets.

He added: "They are prepared to spend a fortune on other things and I'd like to think that someone is looking into that aspect."

Councillors agreed to ask the community association to look at alternative venues and ways of funding a new pre-school.