PARTY fever hit St John's Church playgroup as they celebrated their silver jubilee.

The group, based at the Leyland Lane church, began the party on Saturday with a special service to mark the 25th anniversary.

Guests included an original founder member and dozens of staff, past and present, who turned up to pop the champagne and join the party.

Helper Judith Watson, who has worked at St John's for 15 years, said: "Our aim has never altered since the day we started -- to serve the community by providing pre-school care and a playgroup, and to help parents as much as we can."

Over the years the playgroup has offered fun activities for hundreds of toddlers aged two-and-a-half to four years old and has been a meeting place for parents. These days it caters for around 35 children and is considered by many parents as a vital community resource.

And as proof of the playgroup's successful record in childcare staff received a glowing report from Ofsted -- the government's education inspectorate which also caters for playgroups.

Mrs Watson said: "Every single thing Ofsted looked at they said was excellent. It is probably the best report we will ever get.

"We have four members of staff here at St John's and a lot of mothers and relatives help too. This means that there is a good ratio of adults to children, and it works really well."