A childminders has closed its doors after neighbours claimed it was "not suitable" for the area.

Neighbours dubbed the independent childminding business being run from a residential property was ‘too big, too loud and too unpractical’.

Natalie Peris, who owns Little Fishes Childminding in Wilkins Way, Wantage, then applied for retrospective planning permission to change the use of her home into a mixed residential and nursery for the care of up to 18 children.

The Vale of White Horse District Council refused the application on the grounds of noise, parking and waste.

Mrs Peris is set to appeal the decision.

The business first started operating in 2017 in Humphries Green before moving to Wilkins way in November last year.

Mrs Peris, who employed two staff members, said due to the expansion of housing "working parents are finding it extremely difficult to find childcare provision."

Parents have claimed that they have found it hard to find childminders they trust in the area and are disappointed in the news of the closure.

One parent, Claudia Parmentier, said: "My daughter has been coming to Tally and the team for about a year now, before I managed to get into little fishes I had to bus to Stanford in the Vale to a different childminder then bus back to Wantage. 

"There is limited childcare in the area I can't even get my daughter into a nursery in September."

Miles Miller, a training coordinator at Work Based Learning, said: "In Wantage, there is a chronic shortage of childcare in the local area.

"Despite the recent efforts to add more childcare facilities in the area, we are still on waiting lists for every single one of the local preschool providers, and none of them has any space.

"It is impossible to find spaces in local childcare facilities without a considerable waiting list time.

"This is one of the key reasons that facilities like Little Fishes are absolutely vital to the area and cannot be allowed to cease trading.

Rebecca James, a teacher at Stephen Freeman School, added: "The closing down of Little Fishes would be devastating for our family.

"The children are so settled with this wonderful team. 

"When we were looking for childcare, nowhere felt quite right but Tally has created a true home-from-home feeling, full of love and support throughout."

Angela Glen, of Rae Crescent, said she understands the need for childcare, but the business is ‘not suitable’ for the area.

She said: “In these post-covid times, many residents are full-time remote home workers. I am one too. We moved here with the express purpose of being able to quietly work from home, and improve mental health, and family well-being.

“We understand that neighbours cannot focus, work, schedule or attend meetings important to work, due to background noise.”