‘Six months of hell’ for owner of nurseries in welfare inquiry

Lynn Dyrdal, 54, said she has endured “six months of hell” and has criticised police and education authorities for refusing to reveal the nature of the allegations which caused the investigation at Heworth House and Little Joe’s day nurseries last August, which led to the arrest of six women.

A city council and Ofsted inquiry is still going on. Police have ended their investigation with no charges brought.

Maintaining the innocence of her dedicated staff, whom she has backed “110 per cent”, the nursery owner is now seeking damages after she made five workers redundant and is struggling to keep her head above water – with only a handful of children now attending her once-full nurseries.

“The way this has been handled has had such a devastating effect on my business. I have had to make people redundant already. A few months ago I had 54 staff. At the moment I have 43 still at work. Some of those have been made redundant, some have left and I’m unable to replace them,” said Mrs Dyrdal who also owns Askham Bar Day Nursery and Heworth Green Day Nursery in York.

“When I worked at Heworth House nursery in last August I had 30 children and a waiting list. I have been sat in my nursery today with four children. At Little Joe’s there were 40 children there. I’m lucky some days now if it has 12.

“I have just lost such a tremendous amount of money. I have had to sell a property to keep my business afloat and I have got an overdraft from the bank to keep going in the hope some of the children will come back.

“I have had to repay deposits for future bookings. I’m building up such a loss, I don’t know how much longer I can keep going on. I feel I could lose it all. The phones aren’t ringing any more. Nobody is making any enquiries. Nobody wants to come. My reputation has been absolutely ruined.”

Four arrested nursery workers were released last month without further police action, bringing to an end criminal proceedings.

The women had been on police bail while York Council, Ofsted and North Yorkshire Police conducted a joint investigation after concerns were raised about the quality of care and the welfare of the children at Heworth House, on Melrosegate, and Little Joe’s, on Fishergate.

A statement released by police at the time said a welfare requirement notice, which had been served by Ofsted last year, had been met by the nurseries.

York Council has emphasised throughout that the allegations did not relate to sexual abuse.

The four women remain suspended from work while the Ofsted and local authority investigation continues. The two other employees had already returned to work.

Mrs Dyrdal, who has three children aged 14 to 32, said her health had suffered as a result of the investigation following months of public backlash.

“In the 32 years I have looked after children, I have never had anything like this happen,” she said. “I just can’t believe it. I have had a lot of abuse from parents and people ringing me up anonymously.

“When people first heard about it everybody assumed it was sexual abuse. I had parents ripping children’s work and photographs off the walls, screaming at me and I was just stood there sobbing. I had them ringing up demanding money back because of the investigation. I couldn’t speak for crying. How I didn’t get assaulted, I don’t know.

“Because I was swearing I didn’t know what the allegations were, I was being called a liar. I didn’t know what was being alleged and I still don’t. Don’t get me wrong I don’t blame them but it makes me so sad. Some of those children loved to come and were so happy there. For months I couldn’t speak about it at all because I was so heartbroken. This has been my life.”

Mystery still shrouds the reason behind the investigation and Mrs Dyrdal said she had still not been told who made the allegations, although she believes it to be a disgruntled former employee.

She said: “I cannot believe the shame that has been brought on this business. There will be action because of this, because it beggars belief that I haven’t been supplied with any answers.

“I love this business, it’s my life and it’s almost gone in a blink.”

Eoin Rush, assistant director of children’s services at York Council said it would be “highly inappropriate” to comment on the case while the investigation is ongoing.

He added: “The welfare of children is our absolute priority and the council, City of York Children’s Safeguarding Board and partner agencies have a duty to investigate where there is a concern that the needs of children within their area are not being met and there is a risk that the children may suffer harm as a result.”

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman praised the support of parents during the investigation.

He said: “City of York Safeguarding Children Board (CYSCB), City of York Council, North Yorkshire Police and Ofsted would like to thank the parents of the children and the staff at both nurseries for their patience and understanding during what was a very sensitive investigation.”