HUNDREDS of poorer two-year-olds in Bradford are missing out on free nursery places, official figures show.

Around 1,200 eligible toddlers have not taken up the 15 hours of childcare each week introduced last September – 29 per cent of the total.

In contrast, almost all three and four-year-olds are enjoying their free hours, ahead of a promised expansion to 30 hours each week by the new Conservative government.

Campaigners blamed the much lower figures for two-year-olds on chronic underfunding, which meant many nurseries were turning away young children.

On average, nurseries were setting aside only 11 Government-funded places for two-year-olds and “only a small number” were planning to expand their offers.

But the department for education (DfE) said it was relaxed about a lower take-up, arguing its priority was to expand the free hours for older pre-school children.

A spokesman said: “It is not for us to say if the parents of two-year-olds should use childcare and we are not saying they are bad parents if they choose not to.”

A £100m scheme extended free childcare to the 40 per cent of most deprived two-year-olds from last September – including 4,255 in Bradford.

But the DfE statistics show only 3,021 of those two-year-olds – 71 per cent – are receiving their 15 hours a week, for 38 weeks.

When the policy was introduced, councils were advised to provide enough spaces for at least 80 per cent of eligible children.

However, Bradford’s take-up is higher than in Kirklees (66 per cent) and Leeds (56 per cent) and higher than the average across England (58 per cent).

A Council spokesman said it believed that, by September, there would be enough places to meet demand “bearing in mind that not all eligible families will want to take up a place”.

The National Day Nurseries Association warned: “Many nurseries are limiting the number of free places for two-year-olds they offer, because current funding levels do not cover the cost of high-quality care.

“For nurseries to offer more such places, Government funding levels must rise to meet, not only the day-to-day cost of learning and care, but also the development of the sector workforce.”

But the DfE spokesman said the numbers of two-year-olds in free childcare had “increased significantly”, adding: “It’s there if parents want it.

“But we know there is less of an appetite than for three and four-year-olds, so the two sets of figures are not comparable.”

In Bradford, 97 per cent of three and four-year-olds are receiving their free 15 hours and Calderdale records a figure of 106 per cent, because of children crossing council boundaries.