A hugely popular soft play centre has announced it will not reopen after lockdown - much to the dismay of long-time supporters.

Big Fun House, in Chartham near Canterbury, was forced to shut at the start of the pandemic.

But bosses have now taken the difficult decision to close permanently, adding that social distancing for young children will be "pretty much impossible" even once the lockdown is lifted.

Big Fun House features a huge range of attractions for youngsters - from slides, climbing areas and ball pits, to a soft football pitch, an outdoor go-kart track, and "kids kitchen" where little ones can pretend to be chefs.

The government has not yet given any indication as to when soft play centres will be allowed to reopen.

But in a heartfelt post on Facebook, bosses said: "Even when we are given the green light to open, it feels like a business such as Big Fun House will feel the impact of Covid-19 for many months and even years to come.

"Social distancing for young children in a soft play centre will be pretty much impossible and as a result of this, we anticipate that the majority of our customers will be reticent to return until the virus is either no longer in circulation or there is a cure.

"With such reduced customers, the business will just not be able to continue to operate."

Big Fun House also runs Snowflakes Day Nursery, which will continue to operate on the same site.

Owners now plan to reconfigure the space currently used for the soft play area, providing more space for the nursery, allowing them to "safely operate with more 'bubbles' of children".

"We will also be using our track Big Fun Outdoors for the nursery going forward, meaning that our little ones in our nursery all benefit from a lot more space to play in both inside and outside," they said.

They added: "Clearly the decision has not been an easy one and has an impact on all of our staff who are employed by Big Fun House.

"If anyone is currently looking to hire new members for their business, please reach out as we have been incredibly fortunate to have had the most fantastic team work for us and we are so sad that we can no longer continue to employ them.

"It is down to them that we have had more than five amazing years creating a soft play business that we have been really proud to own.

"A big thank you to all of our staff over the years - and a big thank you to all of our loyal customers. Your support and custom has really meant the world."

Hundreds of people have taken to Facebook to express sadness at the closure, and to thank Big Fun House for their services over the years.

Mum Karen Gambrell wrote: "We have spent many mornings at BFH when our children were younger. No one could ever had anticipated anything like this and it is such a shame that brilliant businesses like yours have sadly fallen victim to it."

Philippa Ballerio said: "I am so sad to read this...proximity to The BFH was one of the deciding factors in choosing our house!"

Meanwhile, Laura Lawrence wrote: "This is so sad. We loved BFH and have so many good memories. Although it’s extremely sad and such a loss, I think it’s a very wise move. As business owners you have to protect yourselves."

Rachel Dixon added: "Thank you for providing such a well-run soft play and all the best to you."

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