A children’s summer camp popular with Jewish families has unexpectedly closed leaving hundreds of parents without child care.

The LL Camps, in Bushey, in Hertfordshire, was shut down on Thursday with no advance notice.

Ben Lewis, a camp director, would not comment on rumours that a child had got out of the camp unsupervised or suggestions that the police and Ofsted may be involved.

He said: “Unfortunately we cannot give comment at this stage. We are not able to disclose any information at this stage.”

Mr Lewis, who heads the camp for children aged 3 to 14 years old, said there would be more information available “in due course”.

Last night, parents received an email which read: “We regret to inform you that LL Camps will be closed for the summer with immediate effect.

“We understand that this will cause significant inconvenience to you and we are exceptionally apologetic for this.

“We cannot disclose any further information at this time and we appreciate your patience in this matter.”

An Ofsted spokesperson said: “We can confirm we have suspended the registrations of these early years settings while investigations are carried out. It would be inappropriate to comment further while investigations are ongoing.”

One mother said that parents who sent the children to camp were “totally stuffed” as a result of the sudden closure, adding that “hundreds of people were without summer childcare”.

The camp is said to be in the process of applying for free school status.