PARENT campaigners have warned that thousands of children are set to miss out on their entitlement to free nursery places.

The Scottish Government has pledged to increase free childcare for three and four-year-olds from 600 hours a year to 1,140 hours during the current parliament.

However, the campaign group Fair Funding for Our Kids says this is "over-simplistic" because many families cannot use their free hour entitlement because they cannot attend council nurseries, which handle the funding.

The majority of council nurseries do not open throughout the day leaving many working parents with the only option of going to a private nursery.

However, funded places at private nurseries are rationed by councils means that as many as one in five children could miss out on their current legal entitlement - some 8,000 children.

The group now want to meet new Education Secretary John Swinney to seek assurances that thousands of children will not miss out on a free nursery place this September.

A spokeswoman for the campaign said: "Mr Swinney has taken on a demanding new portfolio, but with all the emphasis on primary, secondary and tertiary education, there’s a danger that the problems with childcare will be overlooked. We want to make him aware that the current system is frustrating, overly complex and inconsistent."