Eighteen months of hard work at a coastal nursery have finally paid dividends following the grand opening of a refurbished pre-school building.

North Norfolk News: Ladybird Nursery founder Evelyn Meakin, centre, with Sheringham mayor and deputy mayor, Madeleine Ashcroft and Liz Withington. Picture: Andreas YiasimiLadybird Nursery founder Evelyn Meakin, centre, with Sheringham mayor and deputy mayor, Madeleine Ashcroft and Liz Withington. Picture: Andreas Yiasimi (Image: Archant)

The team at Ladybird Pre-School Nursery in Cromer Road, Sheringham have converted a storage area into a new playroom for two-year-olds, and the rest of the building has been redecorated.

Jo Bircham, the nursery's manager, said at the official opening: "Our vision was ambitions and we are proud of what we have created.

"It was recognised that there was a need for additional and more flexible child care in Sheringham and that by creating these additional spaces with more flexibility we can better support the needs of our local families.

"We have created a nurturing environment which provides a safe space for the children to build a secure relationship with their keyworker and begin to play and explore."

An office and meeting space has been created at the front of the building, a new toilet has been added and another toilet has been upgraded with to have wheelchair access.

The nursery currently caters for 37 children aged from two to four.

Ms Bircham added: "The whole staff team worked incredibly hard during the summer months but I think the person who worked the hardest was our builder, Mark Holbrook.

"Mark oversaw the whole build making the process so much easier for myself and the team.

"Each individual tradesman he brought in was fantastic. Mark went above and beyond and we cannot thank him enough."

Norfolk County Council's early years finance team, Poors and Ploughlets Charity, Norfolk Community Foundation - Victory Housing and the National Lottery's Awards for All scheme each contributed to the project, but the pre-school would not say how much or what the overall cost of the renovations were.

Helen Jewers, office supervisor, said their next project would be to improve the nursery's outdoor space, which will be funded by £4,000 raised at a charity ball.

She said: "Now we've done what we wanted to internally in the building, we now want to move onto our garden."

The nursery is rated 'good' by the education watchdog Ofsted.