THE future of an Acle playgroup has been assured after the village's parish council agreed to give it �1,500 to help it meet running costs.Acle Pre-School, based in the Fletcher Rooms in Fletcher Way, was facing a difficult future after being hit with a 68pc rent increase for the year from January to December 2010.

THE future of an Acle playgroup has been assured after the village's parish council agreed to give it �1,500 to help it meet running costs.

Acle Pre-School, based in the Fletcher Rooms in Fletcher Way, was facing a difficult future after being hit with a 68pc rent increase for the year from January to December 2010.

Isobel John, the playgroup's chairman, said it had to plan ahead, especially as figures showed the number of births in the village was set to drop in years to come, which could lead to a fall in the number of pupils at the school.

However, other factors could mitigate the effects of a declining birthrate, including new families moving into Acle.

Mrs John said: “We are not about to fold. We are not in financial trouble, but if we had carried on as we were we would have had to find enough money to meet the extra rent.

“We have to look to the future and realise we are going to have extra expenses on us and that is why we applied to the parish council for the grant. There is nothing sinister about it.

“We are absolutely delighted and very grateful to the parish council for helping us out financially.”

The parish council has given the grant for one year, but the playgroup's staff can go back if they wish to extend it in future years.

The playgroup, which currently has 50 pupils, used to share its premises with an out-of-school club, which closed at the end of last year leaving the group with sole responsibility for paying the rent and electricity bills.

Children aged from two-and-a-half to four or five attend the sessions, held from 9.15am to 3.15pm Mondays to Fridays and come from Acle, as well as further afield including Upton and Freethorpe.