Childcare is booming across Bradford with the number of places soaring by

almost 20 per cent in just 12 months.

The city saw a staggering annual rise of 18 per cent, or an extra 1,414 local authority-funded places by March this year.

North Yorkshire, which covers Craven, boasted a 15 per cent increase - larger than

the national average of 14 per cent.

Rises in Calderdale (13 per cent) and Kirklees (12 per cent) were smaller but still

significant, the Department for Education figures show.

Since Labour came to power, government spending on nought to four-year-olds has risen in real terms from £2 billion to £3.6 billion in 2002-03, as part of a National Childcare Strategy.

A total of 325,000 places have been created, with a target to provide a further 160,000 for 280,000 children by 2006.

Terry Rooney, Labour MP for Bradford North, said the increase in childcare places in the city was good news.

"There are a number of reasons why the increase in the number of childcare places is a good thing. They remove one of the main the barriers to work for parents who want to work," he said.

"They provide an opportunity for children to meet others of the same age group in a safe and secure environment.

"And it prepares the youngest children for nursery and school, which means

they are not so overwhelmed then they go there."

However, a report by the Commons public accounts committee earlier this week

warned of a "postcode lottery" in childcare across the country, with many facing crippling private childcare costs swallowing up to a quarter of household income.

The official figures compare the number of childcare places in each local authority this year and last - but do not reveal the demand for places.

The statistics were released as Education Secretary Charles Clarke announced that every primary school in England would open from 8am to 6pm to help parents juggle work and childcare.

The ten-hour-a-day opening will be introduced in an initial 1,000 primaries by 2008, offering places for up to 50,000 children. In time, all 20,000 English primaries will become "extended schools".