THE owners of a popular Cwmbran crche yesterday lost their battle to stop a pizza parlour opening in the premises it uses.

Now the parents of hundreds of children registered at the Izzie Busy Bees crche in Cwmbran will have to make alternative care arrangements.

Gerald Sims and Grant Geoghegan, owners of the crche in Caradoc Road, have been fighting an eviction order since 2002.

Cwmbran shopping owners Prudential Assurance took legal action to remove the crche, citing the terms of their lease.

And at a closed hearing at Newport county court yesterday a judge ruled Izzie Busy Bees must move from their premises by the end of the month.

Speaking after the hearing Mr Sims said: "We are absolutely devastated, we have lost everything. The children of Cwmbran and their parents will also be crushed as there's no other facility like ours around."

Mr Sims and his daughter and crche manager, Nicola, had collected more than 2,500 signatures from local people against the eviction.

Mr Sims said: "Our crche is the only one in Cwmbran - there are plenty of fast-food outlets. We feel let down by the system."

The county court ruling marks the end of a long and complex battle between Prudential Assurance and the owners of Izzie Busy Bees.

A planning application by Domino's Pizza to occupy the space now taken up by the crche was refused by Torfaen council in July this year.

The council said the pizza development would undermine the viability and vitality of the town centre.

But the council's decision was overturned by an Assembly planning inspector last September, leading to yesterday's hearing.

Mr Sims said: "Unfortunately we have now come to the end of the road - but at least we went down fighting."