Local children are being sought to fill 100 places due to be available at two nurseries in Highfield and Braithwaite.

The Neighbourhood Nurseries aim to provide childcare for parents who are working, training or doing voluntary work.

They will both be attached to new Sure Start centres, due to open within the next few weeks, which will offer services for parents of under-fives.

Sure Start, a Government-funded agency, has worked in Highfield, Guard House and Braithwaite for the past four years.

It has teamed up with residents and the Single Regeneration Budget to build a joint nursery and community centre on the site of the former Highfield Middle School.

Facilities will include women's showers and sauna, a parents' information point, all-weather pitch, playgroup rooms and a large hall for indoor games and public functions.

The Highfield centre's nursery, due to open this month, will be run by long-established childcare agency Kiddicare.

The Braithwaite Centre, devoted entirely to Sure Start and the nursery, will be in the newly refurbished and extended former Guard House First School building.

Sure Start facilities will include a family learning area, toy library, training space, large hall, meeting room, playgroup and creche.

The nursery, run by Keighley Community Nursery, is due to open in May. Like the Highfield nursery it will provide full day-care for 50 children aged between six weeks and four years.

Sure Start co-ordinator Chris Rawlins said children living in the immediate area of the nurseries would be given preference, but places were likely to be available for those living further afield.

Parents will be given advice on applying for Tax Credits to cover the cost of childcare, and five free sessions are available while parents look for work.

Chris said: "The evidence indicates there is a shortage of childcare places. Keighley Community Nursery and Kiddicare have waiting lists, particularly for babies, so this will meet that need. "

"It's not always that parents want to return to full-time work. This is a way to support them while they learn skills or consider career options."

Both nurseries have been funded with Government and European cash, and are expected to become self-financing within the next three years.

Parents wanting nursery places should phone Lilian Miller or David Holden on 01535 600222 (Braithwaite) or Brian Walkeden or Carol Pates on 01535 664055 (Highfield).