A MOTHER-OF-THREE yesterday opened the doors of her own nursery unit after raising a huge £1.4m for the ambitious venture.

Andrea Townsley already had a sound commercial track record when she found she was pregnant with her second child. But with a baby on the way, she decided to tap into her mothering and business skills and launch her own tailor-made project.

That was two years ago, and since then she has had a third child and raised the £1.4m needed to complete her "home-from-home" Clever Clogs Nursery.

Yesterday, the purpose-built unit, next to Durham City's Archibald Football Ground, in Belmont, was opened by Newcastle United's Steve Harper.

"I had worked for several years for large commercial companies and was actually on maternity leave when I decided that the time had come to do something for myself," said Mrs Townsley, who lives in Sedgefield with her husband, Mark, sons Charlie, four, George, two and 16-week-old daughter, Lexie.

"I carried out exhaustive research before deciding on the Belmont location and then I had the major task of raising the money for the venture."

The unit can cater for 72 children aged from birth to five years, plus 52 places for five to eleven-year-olds out of school hours.

Mrs Townsley expects to eventually employ 35 people. Meanwhile, among the first intake will be the couple's three children.