A campaign to save the creche at York District Hospital is being launched by one of its "devastated" founders.

ANGRY: Former nurse and play therapist Irene Fearn, of Dringhouses, York, looks through an album of photographs taken during her time at the hospital creche Picture by Mike Tipping

Retired nurse Irene Fearn helped fundraising efforts to get the play area off the ground in the late sixties and was shocked to discover that the hospital is to shut it down - mainly because of new regulations.

Earlier this week the Evening Press reported that local government rules now mean there have to be two nursery nurses looking after children. York District Hospital has only one and managers say funds will not be used to employ a second, or to pay for much-needed refurbishment.

Until now out-patients and those visiting in-patients have been able to drop their youngsters off at a play area.

Irene, who lives at Dringhouses, York, has many happy memories of working in the creche as a "play therapist" and plans to collect signatures for a petition, showing the strength of feeling about the loss.

She said: "All charities in York poured money into this play room. To them, its closure is very upsetting and I feel devastated.

"It was a wonderful place with everything for children, like painting and sandpits. Now they're saying they can't afford another nursery nurse. But couldn't they fundraise to pay for the second one?

"I was a nurse at York District when it started and helped the consultant paediatrician set it up as somewhere for people to leave their children while they attended clinics.

"It's stressful going to hospital in any case, without little ones running around. If there's no one there to look after children then it's going to cause stress.

"I'm going to try and get a petition going, with signatures from parents who will miss this service."

Health workers' union UNISON has also spoken out about the closure. York spokeswoman Edna Mulhearn said staff were annoyed that they had not been consulted before the decision to close the creche was made.

She said: "We are disgusted that there has been no communication with staff over this. We know the executive feel not enough people are using the creche, but to those who do it is a vital service. We are very concerned about a useful public service being done away with."

A spokesman for York District Hospital has said money will be pumped into providing several new play areas dotted around the hospital site.

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