A nursery in Eastcote has been temporarily closed after a 19-month-old boy evaded staff and wandered out of the building on his own.
Ofsted confirmed it had this week suspended the registration of My Mum’s Away @ Cavendish after the incident, in which the child was lost for a few minutes last Monday (April 25).
The education watchdog has now launched an investigation and and says the suspension, imposed on Tuesday (May 3), will be lifted “if we are satisfied that children are no longer at risk”.
The nursery is one of two My Mum’s Away premises run by Carol Cochran and is based at Cavendish House.
Ms Cochran told getwestlondon she was working with Ofsted, independent assessors and owner of the building to find out how the toddler was able to make off, and improve security there.
She said: “A child did go missing and he returned a couple of minutes after being out of the building.
"But, until we can establish how the child got out, it’s not safe to reopen. And that’s what we are doing now.
'Safety is paramount'
“He was found safe within a few minutes but it could’ve been worse which is why we can’t open until we find out what happened.
"At the end of the day, safety is paramount and we have to make sure the place is safe. Until it’s safe we can’t have kids there.”
A spokesperson for the education watchdogs said: “Ofsted has suspended the registration of this setting due to concerns raised about risk assessment arrangements and the safety of children.
"The purpose of this suspension is to allow time for the circumstances to be investigated and for steps to be taken to reduce or eliminate the risk of harm to children.
“We will regularly review the situation and will lift the suspension if we are satisfied that children are no longer at risk.”
According to the My Mum’s Away website, it was judged 'Good' in a 2013 Ofsted report.
