KIDS missing out on nursery due to strike action can get those days back but Fife Council don't want parents to know.

That's the claim of a Dunfermline dad, who said the local authority told him it would be a "staffing nightmare" and cost more money to ensure all youngsters get the time they've lost.

The man, who didn't want to be named, told the Press: "After a few debates with Fife Council's Early Years team, they have realised that, due to the strikes, my child is actually due additional days at the nursery.

"Fife Council will allow any parent who has lost days due to industrial action free days at their nursery but they do not want to publicise this as it will cost them a staffing nightmare, their words.

"Surely the public should know of their entitlement and not let the council brush this under the carpet?"

He continued: "My little one is at nursery in Dunfermline and, when the teachers' strike was on, missed out on her nursery space for the day because of the teachers striking, not the nursery staff who were being paid for not working as a result of the strike.

"Each child between the ages of three and five is legally entitled to 1,140 hours of free childcare.

"This got me thinking, when the nursery is closed when the boiler doesn’t work or there's an in-service day, my child is losing out on a service which the council have a legal obligation to deliver.

"I queried with the staff and they are more concerned that they would have to work extra hours – which they would get paid for – to help the council meet their legal obligation, whilst myself and loads of other parents face substantial costs getting childcare at short notice."

Shelagh McLean, head of education at the council, said: "For the provision of Early Learning and Childcare (ELCC), the statutory obligation to provide 1,140 hours over the course of the year remains in place.

"The 1,140 hours statutory duty is applied over the course of a year and there are no requirements in the legislation for services to be open or otherwise on any particular day.

"For those accessing the 39-week model of ELCC provision, time lost can be offered in one of our other settings during one of the school holiday periods, if requested."