Police are investigating concerns over the “conduct of staff towards children” at the now closed Little Goldies nursery at Golders Green Synagogue.

The nursery, which was suspended in mid-January pending an Ofsted investigation, was permanently closed by the United Synagogue which withdrew its registration last week.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said officers from the North-West Public Protection Unit had been contacted by the local authority, Barnet, on January 17 after “concerns were raised to them around the conduct of staff towards children at a nursery in Golders Green”. No arrests had been made, police said.

The inspection service Ofsted, which rated the nursery good last year, is continuing its investigation but could not say when it would publish its report.

A spokesman for Barnet Council said the local authority had contacted the police  “after a series of concerns about Little Goldies Nursery were reported to us”.

It added that investigations in which it was involved would take at least six weeks.

The US said last week that it had taken the decision to close Little Goldies with a “heavy heart” but its sudden suspension had left it unviable in its current form as parents had been forced to find alternative childcare.