A 'DILAPIDATED' nursery has been bulldozed to the ground to make room for a new, more modern building in its place.

Pennington Nursery in Ulverston was demolished on Monday - two years after gaining planning permission to knock down the building in Cross-a-Moor.

Owen Collar, who has served as trustee of the nursery for three years, described the demolition as a 'long-time coming'.

"It's definitely been a long time in the making - it's quite exciting," he said.

"The new building has pretty much been built and is coming in a fortnight.

"The new building is going in the same place where the demolition is taking place but will be a little larger.

"The building we did have was quite dilapidated and we wanted a building refresh which was more environmentally friendly and more pleasing on the eye.

"It's all been self-funded by trustees, making sure any money that we made goes back into the building.

"We actually got planning permission two years ago and were determined on pushing forward with the plans even through the Covid pandemic.

"We thought raising the funds was unattainable but we decided to go for it and managed to raise £300,000 for the nursery."

Mr Collar said the new building will benefit the children of the local community for years to come.

He said: "There's so many benefits for the pupils - it will be a cleaner, more modern space which will hopefully be enjoyed by the community for the next 30 years.

"Work is going on right to schedule - it's been flattened now and should be finished by September 4 which is very exciting.

"It will benefit Ulverston for years to come."

Pennington Nursery is currently a charitable nursery offering wraparound childcare services for children aged between two and 11 years old.

It has been providing nursery care in the Ulverston area since 1993.

The nursery is hosting a launch party to celebrate the opening of the new building on Saturday September 4.