Anger among families at Wootton in Bedfordshire as charges at their local nursery are rising

Parents who have seen nursery prices for their children rise by more than 200% say childcare costs are now outstripping their salary.

Families at Wootton in Bedfordshire say they have been left in a difficult situation with just a month's notice of the price hike and no time to make alternative plans.

The nurseries said they were facing losses running into several thousand pounds and are falling into line with others in the area.

Fees at three nurseries run by the charity One YMCA have been increased dramatically, with parents given just 24 hours to decide whether to remove their children, or find the money and keep them there.

Father Adam Bavister said: "It's caused a lot of sleepless nights for a lot of families and on a personal level we don't know what we're going to do. I think it's taken a lot of people by shock and people are having to make real decisions now."

Razia Fatima said she has no choice but to take her daughter Miriam out: "At the moment for my daughter to attend four sessions, I'm paying just under £300 but with the new price structure I'd be paying just over £1,000 - which is more than I get paid."

The parents said they appreciated costs are rising but some of them face an increase of up to £700 a month.

The charity which runs the nurseries said it appreciates some families will be priced out of the market, but a lack of funding has forced its hand.

In a statement One YMCA said: "Faced with a loss of several hundred thousand pounds last year, our charity has made the difficult decision to change the way we work and bring our prices and patterns of access into line with other nearby nurseries, meaning we subsidise these childcare places in a more sustainable way."

Leah Funge's son Oscar has cerebral palsy. He's having to leave the nursery his family loves where staff have been hugely supportive.

Mrs Funge said: "They did fundraising for him to buy equipment so that he could be supported there. So actually the nursery itself is an amazing place. We've made some wonderful friends who I know will help support him throughout his life.

"But I think it's the people higher up than that who don't appreciate and don't understand what the families are going through."