A playgroup which was under threat of closure earlier this year has turned its fortunes around and has just received a sparkling Ofsted report.

Bright Stars Playgroup, which is based at Moredon Youth and Community Centre at Hreod Parkway School, was struggling to compete with other nurseries in the spring and owner Debbie Garstang feared the group would not start this academic year.

Numbers had fallen to as low as 10 children, but targeted advertising in the Haydon Wick and Greenmeadow areas of the town has boosted numbers to 23.

Now with the additional boost of a near-perfect Ofsted report received last week, Mrs Garstang is optimistic for the long-term future.

She said: "It's wonderful news I really thought we were going to close with the way things were looking earlier in the year. But the staff have worked tremendously hard and we believed in the group and wanted it to succeed."

Previously a community group called Parkway Pre-School, it has now been running for 13 years and the current three full-time staff members have been working together for nine years.

The management committee decided to close it in 1998 due to similar financial pressures and Mrs Garstang then the supervisor stepped in and took it over as a private enterprise.

It did well for two years but suffered a setback again this year when parents started taking their children to a neighbouring nursery which is subsidised by the Local Education Authority and is free.

But many parents have seen the benefits of sticking with Bright Stars, which offers a learning syllabus that has impressed inspectors.

The children study a new theme every term and are focusing this term on finding out about Swindon. As part of the study, Swindon Town has agreed to give the toddlers a tour of the County Ground tomorrow.

The inspectors visited last month and confirmed the group had met all the Government standards in all areas and have no key issues to work on for the next inspection, which will be in two to four years' time.

Mrs Garstang said: "I'm feeling very positive about the future now the report brought tears to my eyes to see how well we'd done.

"I think it's a lot to do with how long the staff have been together and we do have a good communication with the parents and the children.

"We still can't be certain we'll be here next year, because that's the nature of the business, but I'm pretty confident we will be."