THE Chancellor, Gordon Brown, paid a flying visit to Bury on Monday to visit the town's first "super nursery".

Mr Brown toured the award-winning Hoyles Early Years Centre, in Chesham Fold Road, with Bury North MP David Chaytor and acting headteacher, Angela Lord.

He met the children and spent time chatting with parents and staff about the past and the future of the nursery.

The centre is Bury's only council-run nursery and cares for up to 80 children a day.

The building has won an array of awards for its architectural design since it was opened by Children's Minister Margaret Hodge in November 2003 and it was crowned an Early Excellence Centre by the Government two years ago.

This summer it is set to become a Children's Centre extending its services to the children in the community further with Government programme Sure Start.

While chatting with parents about what they want for the centre, Mr Brown said: "The nursery has great facilities. I should have brought my son with me, he would have loved it!

"There was very little investment in the under-fives in the old days but now we have nursery education for three and four-year-olds and are helping the special needs children to develop more and more. We want every community to have a community centre within the next three years."

He said: "We are trying to give every child the best start in life and make it possible for more children to have the best future. Every child is unique and precious and it is great to see the amount of work done to help them develop their talent."

To mark the special visit, the toddlers performed a dance forMr Brown before he left for Liverpool to continue a whistle-stop tour of the North-west.