Lone parents in Bradford are to get a week's free childcare as part of a £5 million Government-funded pilot scheme to help them get back to work.

Bradford was chosen to take part because it's number of out-of-work single parents is higher than the national average - the city has 9,000 lone parents on income support with 17,000 children.

Under the scheme, announced today by Work and Pensions Secretary Andrew Smith, out-of-work parents will be given a week's free childcare to ease them back into employment and build up their confidence that their children will be well looked after while they are at work.

The childcare tasters are just part of an overall project looking at getting single parents back to work and boosting the economy.

The news has been welcomed by Gingerbread, one of Bradford's leading support groups for lone parents.

Centre manager Dawn Harkins said: "For many lone parents it can be a very difficult and frustrating task to find affordable, suitable childcare when they want to get back to work or take on further education or training.

"Any support offered, whether it's more resources or financial help, will be of benefit to many parents in Bradford."

If successful the weeks could be extended nationwide. The other pilot areas are the London boroughs of Lewisham and Haringay.

Some 1,200 families are expected to benefit from the pilot project over the next two years, which is also looking at setting up more beore and after school clubs. Under the Bradford scheme, seven areas across the city are to get new clubs by the summer.

The DWP estimates that about 500,000 jobless lone parents across the country would like to find work.

Parents taking advantage of the scheme would not have to take the free childcare in one chunk when they start work, but could use individual days to try out different childcare options in advance of taking up a job or to go on training days to boost their chances of finding work, said a DWP spokesman.

The scheme is also part of the Government's commitment to halve child poverty by 2010, raise the proportion of lone parents in work to 70 per cent and to close the childcare provision gap in disadvantaged areas.

Bryan Walkeden who is co-ordinator of charity Keighley Kiddicare which runs six before-and-after school clubs said he hoped the scheme would eventually help other parts of the district catch up with what they have been doing in Keighley since they were founded by a group of lone-parents in 1976.

He said: "It's good news for Bradford that they are to get the funding. It's proof that the Government has finally accepted there is a lack of childcare provision in the country and that it's the biggest barrier for lone parents trying to start work or training."