Two Cockermouth nurseries were delighted to each be given £1,250 by a former pre-school which closed 14 months ago.

The former leader of Kirkgate Pre-School presented cheques this week to Mountain View Childcare, based at St Joseph's Primary School, and Mary Platt Pre-School, at Lorton Street Methodist Church.

Kirgate Pre-School ran for nearly 50 years and supported hundreds of families. Ongoing increases in running costs forced the voluntary management committee to close the unit, which had been based at the Friends Meeting House since 1969. Seven staff lost their jobs.

Former manager Lisa Muir, who now works at Sainsburys, said: "We were a charity and had some money in the account. We wanted to divide it between two similar groups.

"Closing our pre-school was quite a traumatic time, we were passionate about the place.

"It's nice to be able to help the nurseries where some of our children went."

Mountain View acting manager Susan Hully said: "I think it's fantastic, any extra money is wonderful. It was such a lovely surprise.

"I worked at the pre-school for a term and three of the children here used to go there. It was such a shame when it finished."

Mrs Hully has been discussing how the money could be spent with the 16 children.

"We are looking into buying some outdoor equipment, perhaps bikes," she said.

Laura Johnson, manager at Mary Platt, said: "We really appreciate this. We're hopefully going to put it towards an outdoor music stand for the children."