THE owner and manager of the currently-closed Acorns pre-school in Chadwell St Mary has broken her silence over the incident that saw two three-year-old children crawl under a fence and wander through nearby roads on their own.

The incident last month, which fortunately ended without harm to either child, prompted the temporary closure of the nursery on Waterson Road, while an Ofsted investigation takes place.

However, the outcome of that probe has now been pre-empted by a statement from Julie Storr who runs Acorns, saying she is stepping away from it.

She hopes iit will open again after Easter.

Mrs Storr has also apologised for the incident, which she described as horrific.

In a message to parents she writes: "We have all been deeply upset and due to the seriousness of the incident I have decided to resign from my position and will not be working at acorns any more.

"However, we know how important Acorns has been to you over the years, so Denise Schofield will be taking over.

"She is not related to the incident and was not presetn on the day.

"Ofsted has advised her to complete paperwork which she is in the process of doing.

"The investigation is ongoing so therefore it will probably be after Easter holiday that acorns will be open again.

"I will keep you informed of the progress via denise as soon as we have any updates.

"Once again I am very sorry to you all regarding the horror of this incident and the distress this must have caused, especiially to those immediate families involved."

Ofsted has declined to comment and says it will not be issuing any further statements.