BOLTON has received a much-needed New Year windfall with the announcement of £616,411 to ensure nursery places for all local three-year-old children. The further 748 places builds on the impressive record the town already boasts of 78 per cent of youngsters in nursery places.

Some parents, of course, do not wish their three-year-olds to have nursery places. But Bolton has already been identified by the Government as an area "of greatest social need" and so comes high in the cash hand-out order on this occasion.

Providing nursery education in schools, private nurseries and playgroups not only offers young children an excellent start in life, educationally, socially and personally. It also allows many mothers in particular to return to work, full-time or part-time. And this can provide family financial independence that childcare might otherwise prevent.

This move in Bolton also comes at a time when a glut of job opportunities has developed via the area's retail and leisure developments, to provide a more optimistic outlook for many families in 1999 and beyond.

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