Children "traumatised" after childcare workers "force fed them until they cried", court hears.

Young children were left “traumatised and distressed” after childcare workers force-fed them until they cried among other cruel acts, a UK court has heard.

Three Welsh childcare workers, Katie Davies, 32, Christina Pinchess, 31, and Schelbie Forgan, 22, faced court accused of cruelty to children this week.

The court heard the women had dropped children to the floor by their wrists, among other reports of “rough” behaviour, according to The Sun.

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A “roughhouse” culture at Bright Sparks Nursery in Port Talbot, South Wales was exposed when a work-experience student reported what she saw over a four-month period in 2015 and 2016.

College student Natasha Walsh-Jones, 23, said she saw Davies and Forgan “laughing” as they force-fed a toddler who was refusing to eat, The Sun reports.

Davies, who owns the childcare centre, allegedly held the toddler’s head, while Forgan forced the food into the bub’s mouth and moved their jaw up and down to imitate chewing.

The prosecutor argued the actions were common at the centre, while the women "emphatically" denied the charges.

"There is no suggestion that these children were badly beaten or badly injured. But they were distressed and traumatised by their treatment," the prosecutor said.

The Sun reports Bright Sparks was closed amidst the allegations of cruelty against children last year - only two years after it opened in 2014.

The trial continues.