A GRIEVING mother is furious after a coroner decided a children's nursery was not to blame for her young son's death.

Catriona Rae said she was "destroyed" after the inquest on her 20-month-old son Alex, who drowned at Hilltop Bunnies Nursery, Belmont.

Bolton coroner Martin Coppel recorded that the toddler's death was an accident and said he did not believe nursery owner Carolyn Brown was at fault.

Mrs Rae, who lives at Withnell Fold, sobbed: "I am very, very disappointed by this verdict. Alex has been robbed of his life and my life has been utterly destroyed. My son is dead and nothing is ever going to bring him back, but Carolyn Brown can walk down the street as normal."

The eight-hour inquest heard how Alex drowned in inches of rainwater which had gathered on a tarpaulin covering a large ornamental pond near the nursery.

Miss Brown, 22, who has child care qualifications from Bolton College, her mother Pearl, and paramedics failed to revive him.

The court heard how Miss Brown and her boyfriend Simon Moore had failed to spot Alex wander from a group of seven todlers playing outside in the sun.

Mr Moore, who made a vain attempt to save the child, said the tot had gone missing in a matter of seconds.

But Mrs Rae, 38, accused the nursery, based at the Brown family home at Hilltop Farm, of negligence.

She said she was going to move Alex away because of reservations about the way Alex was being looked after but coroner Mr Coppel concluded all the evidence pointed to an accident.

He said it appeared to him that many of Mrs Rae's reservations had come with hindsight - and said it was easy for adults to lose sight of young children for a few seconds.

Mr Coppel also said the tarpaulin cover had been put over the pond to protect children and said rainwater had been regularly siphoned from the top.

"There doesn't seem to be a single solitary person who didn't think it was anything less than safe," he said.

Police said there would be no criminal proceedings against Miss Brown but Lancashire County Council social services, who cancelled Miss Brown's nursery registration after the tragedy, are considering court action along with the Health and Safety Executive.

Mrs Rae also plans to sue.

The Brown family refused to comment as they left the inquest.

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