Nursery nurses marched through Darlington to highlight their claim for a better pay deal.

Organisers were delighted by a large turn-out, which included parents, schoolteachers, friends, and even colleagues from Dudley, in the West Midlands.

More than 200 people walked from Stanhope Park, through the town centre, to Darlington Town Hall, on Saturday morning.

The nurses claim Darlington Borough Council is not taking their pay and regrading claim seriously.

They want a pay scale which brings them closer to that of a newly-qualified teacher, to recognise the changes and increased responsibility of the role.

The pay scale for a nursery nurse runs from £9,852 to £12,444 per annum, and it can take ten years to get to the top of the scale.

A schoolteacher leaving college is likely to have a starting salary of £15,000 to £16,000 a year.

Alan Docherty, branch secretary for public sector union Unison, said: "This demonstration is to put pressure on the council to take note that we have got a pay and regrading claim in for the nursery nurses.

"It is to try and get them a proper pay structure, which recognises the work they do."

Nursery nurse Paula Peel, who works at Skerne Park Primary School, said: "We now plan and deliver a curriculum. We go on a lot of courses, which means we can specialise in a lot of things, and implement them into the nursery.

"We support the teaching staff very closely, and do everything really. All we want is a reasonable pay structure that recognises our role in education."

The demonstrators claimed strong public support.

Mr Docherty said: "We've got quite a few members of the public here, there are parents with kids, and some of our teaching colleagues. I think the council needs to recognise we've got this support and should bow to that pressure."

Geoff Pennington, the council's director of education, said: "We recognise the contribution nursery nurses make to schools.

"However, we have job evaluation exercises and best value reviews ongoing, and we have explained to the unions that these need to be resolved before meaningful discussions can be held."