A popular nursery on the Allerton estate is doubling in size after winning a major Government grant.

The Child's Play centre next to Ley Top Primary School has been providing low-cost childcare to parents since 1997.

Set up by local mums with the backing of the Barnardo's charity, it has grown steadily and now employs 12 people.

But its funding has been precarious - it has survived through charging basic fees to the mums and dads who used it.

Now, the centre is able to expand in September after being given £226,000 of Government cash over three years, through the Neighbourhood Nursery Initiative (NNI). Delighted manager Beverley Mullaney, who founded the centre with other mums, worked unpaid for a year to get it off the ground and is delighted that its good work has now been recognised nationally.

The news of NNI status comes hot on the heels of a complimentary Ofsted report which found "a happy, caring environment providing some good learning experiences".

Parent Nicola Wood, 26, said the centre had helped give her the confidence to get some qualifications. Her daughter Georgia, now five, loved going there.

"I used to leave her there while I was studying for a GCSE in psychology," said Nicola. "I was a single parent and didn't have a lot of money. Bev and the others gave me a lot of emotional support and encouraged me to keep going with my studies. I would have packed my course in if it wasn't for them."

Nicola has just graduated with a degree in psychology and counselling and is ready to start on a new career as a family support worker.

Mrs Mullaney, a mother-of-five, said the centre aimed to help people living in the area and was a non-profit-making outfit, charging affordable rates. She said it was really for people in Allerton, but because it was becoming so popular, professional families were sending their own children from as far afield as Idle and Cullingworth.