Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner came to town on her party's battle bus on Monday and set out how the party would improve childcare.

The Ashton-under-Lyne General Election candidate spoke with borough parents on Gigg Lane, who said they are struggling to find nursery parents for their children.

Across the North West, it is estimated that there are on average three children (aged up to five) per childcare place, with some areas of Greater Manchester being worse at four for every spot.

Read more: Red Rose Healthcare opens in Bury town centre

Labour has said they plan to use spare capacity in primary schools, which are growing across the country due to falling birth rates, to house more on-site nurseries.

The party has said this is the next stage of their long-term plan to deliver a modern childcare system that better supports parents from the end of parental leave to the end of primary school.

The expansion would see Labour create 3,300 nurseries from converted classrooms into nursery provision. 

The party says this will help meet deliver the immediate demand for childcare in under-served areas and the expected extra need from the expansion of government-funded childcare entitlements announced in the 2023 Budget, which Labour is committed to delivering.

These conversions would be paid for by ending tax breaks for private schools.

Read more: Election fraud allegations cleared by GMP after investigation

In the North West, Labour's plans could see the creation of around 330 nurseries, equivalent to places for around 10,000 children.

The party said it would target its new school nursery places at areas of highest need, where parents simply cannot find local childcare places for their children.

Ms Rayner said: “Meeting with local families here in Bury, it is clear how important high quality early years education is for them, but their children are either stuck on waiting lists or they are left paying a fortune for childcare.

“Families have been badly let down by a Tory government that overpromised, and underdelivered.

"If anything is going to change, we need people in Bury North to vote for James and for a Labour government.”

Read more: Radcliffe canal wall being transformed into work of art

Labour’s Bury North candidate James Frith, who also spoke with parents, added: “These families are crying out for change and only Labour can deliver it for them. The Tories have broken childcare, but Labour will fix it.

“The evidence is clear: school-based nurseries deliver high quality education which allows children to thrive when they get to primary school.”