CHILDCARE costs in Scotland are among the highest in Britain, with some parents facing bills of nearly £12,000 a year, a new report has revealed.

Childcare charity the Daycare Trust has found that the cost of putting a child into nursery in the most expensive areas has soared to more than £11,500 a year, and some families are paying nearly as much as those in affluent areas of southern England.

Parents in Scotland spend an average of £101.49 putting a child under the age of two into nursery for 25 hours a week. For a child older than two, it drops to £94.52, the trust said.

The price of 15 hours of after-school care is also higher than in England and Wales, at £48.55 weekly.

Now the trust is calling on the Scottish Government to ensure costs are brought down and that affordable childcare becomes established as a universal right.

Bronwen Cohen, chief executive of Children in Scotland, said: "High quality, accessible, affordable childcare is essential for Scottish families, who are paying among the highest childcare costs in the UK and indeed Europe – and also still lack the systematic provision to extend programmes for children under two and out-of-school wraparound care.

"Childcare is not just about enabling parents to work or study.

"The long-term benefits to children of social, learning, development and play opportunities that may not be available elsewhere are well documented.

"A universal entitlement to early childhood education and care, with subsidies to limit what parents pay, would make the benefits of early learning available to every child."

The report examined the costs of both nursery and afternoon care in each local authority area north of the Border.

It found families faced a postcode lottery of sky-high prices, while just one-fifth of local authorities had enough childcare for working parents. and one in 10 had enough childcare for parents who work outwith normal office hours.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "We're providing £4.5 million over the next three years to deliver additional early learning and childcare for all looked-after two-year-olds; and a further £4.5m to promote community-based solutions to family support and childcare."