When Carla Ferreira started childminding six years ago she never thought she would open her own nursery, let alone a second.

After starting by looking after her eight-month-old son and her friend's three children, Miss Ferreira became busier and Traquinas Childcare - which means cheeky monkeys in Portuguese - was born.

Originally the nursery was based at the 33-year-old's house at Cloverfields in Thetford.

However because of the growing business, Miss Ferreira and her partner Paulo moved to a bigger house on Croxton Road.

The nursery continued to expand and the family moved out of the building so it could be purely a nursery.

And now the mother-of-two, who moved to Thetford from Portugal at the age of 19, is celebrating the opening of a second nursery on Raymond Street.

Miss Ferreira and her staff spent nearly four months painting and creating the nursery and it now boasts a crafts room, sleeping room, play rooms for the different age groups and a dining room.

'We spent evenings painting and putting up shelves and we came in on weekends,' she said.

'I always wanted to work with children but I never thought I would open my own nursery.'

Miss Ferreira said she did not think she could open another nursery because her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Nina has the condition global developmental delay - where children take longer to reach developmental milestones - and often has to attend appointments.

She said: 'To me opening another nursery was like 'I cannot do it'. But Nina comes to the nursery and she is such a social little girl and the children love her. I thought it would be too much but she thrives here.

'If it wasn't for my staff supporting me and giving me their time then I would not be able to do it. But also I am thinking of my children's future.'

The Croxton Road site caters for 25 children under the age of five and the new site can hold 38 children under the age of four. The new nursery will also be holding holiday and after school clubs.

An open day, which will include visiting animals and Peppa Pig, will be taking place tomorrow at 17/19 Raymond Street from 11am to 2pm. For more information visit Traquinas Childcare on Facebook.