MORE than £500,000 could be invested in improving facilities for children and their families in some of Darlington's most deprived areas.

The next phase of work in the town's children's centres scheme would create vital provision over the next two years, which is designed to offer a range of facilities to local communities.

The centres are intended to provide a one-stop shop for parents of children up to the age of 14, or 16 for those with special educational needs.

Darlington Borough Council's cabinet will be asked to release £504,090 of capital funding to allow extra work to progress when they meet on Tuesday.

That money would see children's centre facilities at Dodmire Infant and Junior Schools expanded, and the creation of a centre based in the Haughton area, at a total cost of just under £345,000.

Further investment of £60,000 could be made in the Middleton St George and Sadberge areas, with new services provided for children aged under five and their families.

Up to £100,000 could also be spent on Harewood House, off Grange Road, which is home to Darlington's Child Development Centre.

The latest proposals would ensure that 4,675 pre-school children would have access to children's centres by 2008, exceeding the Government's target of 4,379.

The cabinet is also being asked to lease a disused part of a school playing field to the Firthmoor and District Community Association, to allow the organisation to create a garden for the estate's Maidendale Community Nursery.

Councillor Chris McEwan, cabinet member for children's services, said: "It is great that we are extending the children's centre programme to reach out to even more children than is required. It's fantastic news for children and families in Darlington."