Police called in after nursery film

Staff at a west London nursery were under investigation today over claims that they slept on the job and failed to maintain hygiene standards.

Childcare watchdog Ofsted said it was studying undercover film footage from Petits Enfants nursery in Church Road, Teddington.

Police and social workers were set to join the inquiry, revealed in the Evening Standard yesterday.

At another nursery, in Stoke, four staff were dismissed after footage showed toddlers being dragged around and reduced to tears.

The allegations, to be aired by the BBC tonight, were set to alarm families who entrust their children to private nurseries, where fees average £138 a week.

Undercover reporter Lizz Brown worked for two weeks at Petits Enfants, which charges £145 a week for a full-time place.

She filmed one employee apparently asleep in charge of a group of sleeping children. He claims he was "power napping" and said: "It's not actually sleeping, it's that drowsy feeling - it's like just before you go to sleep."

Staff blamed a decision to axe breaks leaving them working nineanda-half hour days with only half an hour off for lunch.

In a nappy changing area and children's lavatory, staff said there had been no soap for months on end, even though a tummy bug was going around. Carers did not empty potties before letting other children use them. One admitted: "I know I should wear gloves and an apron, but I don't put gloves on for a wee."

And another employee complained at being the only qualified staff member in charge of a group of babies, due to short-staffing.

The BBC reporter was never vetted or asked for any personal details other than her mobile phone number. The nursery's owner, private group Nord Anglia Education, admitted to the BBC that it had not met the high standards it sets itself, and that the scenes filmed were unacceptable.

It said it had put new procedures in place to prevent them happening again.

A spokeswoman for Ofsted, the Government agency which inspects pre-school care providers, said: "As soon as we became aware that the BBC had been investigating nurseries we asked them to provide us with further details.

"We are are working with police and social services to investigate three nurseries in connection with the programme." The most serious allegations focused on the £110-aweek Little Treasures nursery, in Stoke-on-Trent, where parents complained to police after being shown secret footage of the way their children were treated.

One employee was filmed shouting at frightened toddlers. As one child wept she yelled: "Sit! Stupid boy." Another child was called a "minger" and a boy crying for his mother was branded an imbecile.

Another carer was filmed describing how she frightened two children so much that one girl soiled herself. Mother Paula Dean has complained to police after seeing film of her son James Atkin, now two, being yanked by the arm at Little Treasures.

Another mother, Embreen Zaman, said she was also considering legal action. Her two-year-old son Zak was teased with a biscuit for four minutes while staff tried to make him say "ta". In the end the biscuit was taken away.

At Bank House Day Nursery in Bury, Greater Manchester, one member of staff was suspended but later reinstated. At a fourth nursery investigated by the BBC, no wrongdoing was detected.

Private nurseries have expanded in recent years as more women go out to work. Many offer day-long care for children as young as three months and up to the age of four.

Anyone who wants to open a nursery must be vetted by Ofsted and have their premises approved. Nurseries are inspected every two years and must meet 14 national standards on staffing, equipment and safety. Staff who take charge of children must also be vetted.