Out of the devastation of Storm Desmond developed a good news story - with a Carlisle nursery announcing its unexpected expansion.

St Aidan's Day Nursery is heading home to its modular building in Victoria Place, which was swamped by floodwater a year ago.

But its temporary home in the new £12m Harraby Community Campus has proven so successful that trustees of the nursery have decided to keep it on.

The decision gives families who saw their children displaced after the floods the choice of which nursery base they want them to go to when St Aidan's Victoria Place home reopens in January.

It is leading to the doubling of places on offer for children, and manager Elma Dey (CORR) is to recruit five new members of staff to add to the existing workforce.

Retaining its Harraby operation also allows the nursery to consider other opportunities, including running holiday clubs for children for the first time.

Mrs Dey said: "We've given our existing parents the option of where they want to go to once Victoria Place reopens.

"The two sites offer different things for families. We don't want to give up this site in Harraby because it offers so much.

"It has direct access to a great outdoor space and it is very spacious and all on one level here with great parking, which is useful for those who have special needs or have disabilities.

"At Victoria Place it is cosier, more homely, compared to here. We've got some steps before we get to our outdoor space there too, but at Victoria Place we can offer swimming because we're in walking distance of the pool at Trinity and being near the city centre is a great option for many parents."

She added: "In comparison, we have access to a sensory room here at the Harraby campus and we've developed great links with the primary school and Barnardo's that run the children's centre and we want to continue that work."

Staff will be deployed across both sites, Mrs Dey added.

Renovations are currently going on at the nursery's city centre base in time for a return in the new year.

St Aidan's Day Nursery moved into its temporary home in Harraby last January after losing everything in the floodwaters.

It took over the empty section which had already been earmarked for a privately-run nursery in the original plans for the sprawling campus.

Cumbria County Council provided furniture allowing St Aidan's Day Nursery to open at the campus after Christmas. Parents, staff and supporters donated the vast majority of the books, toys and other facilities and materials children use today.

Mrs Dey said: "The insurance process has been complicated and taken a lot of time but we're absolutely delighted that we're going home and expanding.

"It is also providing a contingency plan, a back-up, if ever anything should happen again.

"We must thank everyone for their support."

She added: "I thought we'd be back in Victoria Place by Easter but that didn't happen. This time last year we had no idea that we'd be here now talking about expanding and having two sites.

"We're hoping to go from strength-to-strength."