NEW nurseries will open in Bolton to help working parents access free childcare.

The borough has received a Government cash injection of £232, 243 to give children of working parents up to 30 free hours per week.

Currently, all families with children aged three and four years old can access 15 hours a week of free childcare.

However, from September children of working parents will be entitled to the extra hours and the new funding will go towards increasing the number of places available.

The four nurseries set to benefit from the cash injection are Heaton House and Croft House, which are private nurseries, St Joseph’s RC Primary School in Halliwell and St James’s CE Primary School, Daisy Hill, which will be providing nursery places for the first time as a result of the funding.

All are rated as either good or outstanding by Ofsted.

And £416,384 will be invested into early years’ provision in Bolton to expand or refurbishing existing accommodation.

Cllr Ann Cunliffe, Bolton Council’s Cabinet Member for education, schools, safeguarding and looked after children, said: "This is a significant investment into childcare in the borough which will go towards meeting current demand for three and four year olds.

"We want to encourage as many parents as possible back into work and enable their young children to start school equipped with the relevant skills, and this scheme will enable them to access high quality, affordable childcare."

Catherine Watkin, Headteacher at St James Daisy Hill CE Primary School, said: "The Governing Board is delighted that the school has the opportunity to expand and further develop the educational provision at St James, Daisy Hill, by offering high quality nursery education. This will ensure that all children are given the very best start to their education and achieve even better outcomes from a very early age.

"The provision that the school will be offering within the community will also help to support working parents and will entail both full time and part time nursery education places for children from the age of two."

Headteacher at St Joseph’s RC Primary School, Halliwell, Nicola Rabbett, added: "We’re extremely pleased and excited at the prospect of being able to create a nursery at St Josephs, as this will be a new venture for us. It can be difficult for working parents to find suitable and affordable childcare, so we’re looking forward to being able to support them by creating an extra classroom to accommodate nursery provision."

Janet Lomax, owner of Croft House Nursery, said: "This will enable us to bring forward our long-term expansion plans so that we are ready to welcome a significant number of children accessing the 30 hours childcare offer from this September onwards."

Lauren Hyde, early years manager of Heaton House nursery, said: "We have a waiting list for three and four year old places and converting some of our accommodation on our site will enable us to meet the demand of our current and new families in the local area."