A nursery in St Albans has been temporarily closed following the arrest of a member of staff.

A 25-year-old man from St Albans, who works at St Albans Hospital Busy Bees nursery, was arrested on the evening of April 20 by officers from the specialist Child Online Safeguarding Team.

The man has been questioned on suspicion of inciting a teenager to engage in a sexual act and released on police bail until July 22 pending further inquiries.

Education watchdog Ofsted has made the decision to suspend the registration of the nursery with immediate effect.

Emma Bowden-Wright, spokeswoman for Ofsted, said: “We can confirm we have suspended the registration of this early years setting while an urgent investigation is carried out.

“When it comes to the early years, the safety of young children is paramount. Decisions to suspect registrations are never taken lightly.

“It would be inappropriate to comment further while this is ongoing.”

According to a spokesman for Busy Bees at St Albans Hospital, since the temporary suspension the nursery manager and staff have been brilliant.

They worked over the weekend to ensure all the children from the nursery who wanted a place today (Monday) have been found one at other Busy Bees nurseries in the area – this involved the relocation of around one hundred children.

They said: “We can confirm that a member of staff at our St Albans Hospital nursery has been arrested by Hertfordshire Police.

“We understand that this is in connection with an incident that took place away from our nursery.

“We are treating the situation seriously and in accordance with our procedures have contacted all the relevant agencies.

“The safety and care of children at our nurseries is, and always be, our first priority and we have robust policies in place to ensure that care of children at our nurseries always comes first.

“As a result of the situation Ofsted have taken the decision to temporarily close our St Albans Hospital nursery while their investigations take place.

“We are extremely disappointed with this outcome and are appealing the decision.

“We are making arrangements for places at our other local nurseries to be available so we can continue to provide childcare for the children affected by Ofsted’s decision.

“As this continues to be the subject of a formal police investigation and for reasons of confidentiality we are unable to provide any further information.”

Key staff from the St Albans Hospital nursery will move with the children for however long it takes to get the nursery reopened.

The spokesman added: “Parents have been hugely supportive and we are really hoping that everyone will be back at St Albans Hospital nursery very soon.”