BINFIELD pre-school is set to move out of its long-standing home at Binfield Memorial Hall after pre-school bosses complained about issues with rats, mould and facilities at the site.

New terms issued by the Hall could not be agreed between the parties as conditions included a number of new fines for users of the Hall, something pre-school boss Emma Hone claimed was a “step too far” in addition to the site’s other alleged issues.

READ MORE: Planning inspectors approve Binfield care home plans

In a letter to the Hall’s committee, she wrote: “My staff and I have coped with all these issues for so long, despite the fact that they make our working days much harder, without so much as an apology or offer of compensation from the hall committee because we love our jobs and the pre-school so much.

“We have also coped with being told on a regular basis by the chairperson that the hall committee does not like the Preschool and want us out of the hall.

“However, the latest terms and conditions are one step too far for us and now we have had to sadly come to terms with the fact that we can no longer remain at the hall, even though we will be letting down the families we provide care to, the community of Binfield village and the staff, who will lose their jobs.”

Pre-school staff claim they have evidence of rats running around the Hall’s kitchen and in her letter to the committee, Ms Hone suggested the Hall had not taken enough action to deal with the problem.

Mould had allegedly been found on the ceiling of the boy’s toilets more than a year ago, forcing pre-school bosses to stop using them.

Ms Hone claims the mould spread to a wider patch after Hall managers supposedly failed to act, and pre-school bosses claim to have later found mould in the kitchen too.

A number of other problems were also said to have been ignored by the Hall’s managers, including issues with the site’s toilets, leaks, cleanliness and more.

READ ALSO: 53 Binfield homes plan rejected by council

The pre-school has been hiring the Hall for more than 20 years but now managers have taken the decision to leave the site after Ms Hone claimed new rules would only ‘add to staff’s stress’.

According to Ms Hone, new terms and conditions would mean the pre-school would have to give a key to the store containing the pre-school’s equipment to the Hall, despite Citizen’s Advice Bureau telling managers they would not have to do this.

Latest terms would have charged the pre-school for a number of issues had they been agreed.

These included a £20 fine if a table is not wiped down properly, £20 if chairs are not put away correctly and £20 is doors or windows are left open.

A spokesperson for the Binfield Memorial Hall of Trustees said updates to hiring agreements were made to ensure the Hall remained compliant with safety laws.

The spokesperson said: “When hirers raise issues, they are dealt with in a professional and timely manner and to the best of our ability.

“We are very sorry if any hirer is unhappy with the service they have received.

NOW READ: Binfield continue perfect start with FA Cup progress

“However, issues have been raised recently against which there is sufficient evidence to refute statements.”