Preschools are registered by the Government regulatory bodies and are inspected every year. Half the staff must be trained and some may be qualified teachers. They'll offer lots of opportunities for children to learn through play, and most offer a Government-approved early years curriculum.

Some revealing figures have come out of a survey conducted by Halifax Home Insurance suggesting that on average the UK spends £1.8 billion decorating nurseries. This equates to parents spending a whopping average of more than £2,600 furnishing and decorating a nursery for a new baby, the survey has shown.

As more and more parents head to the gym to keep fit and to relax, so the demand for on-site crèches is also rising. The benefits of being able to take your children along with you and to know that they are being well looked after as you sweat away on the machines is invaluable.

Many parents in Britain are paying in excess of £8,000 a yar for a full-time nursery place, a survey suggests...