Move over, Ms Frost - as town gets supernanny

In November, Tony Blair announced 77 areas with high levels of anti-social behaviour were to receive funding to hire parenting support workers.

He said parents in those areas needed a "helping hand".

Now, Darlington's first supernanny has started work in the town - nicknamed after the Channel 4 show in which nanny Jo Frost helped parents with troublesome children.

Kym Cheesman - whose official title is senior parenting practitioner - is part of a four-strong parenting support service that will offer advice and guidance to families with children aged five to 18 across Darlington.

Families can be referred to the team by a variety of agencies, including the police, the council, and social services. Parents can be helped in a one-to-one or a group basis.

A Darlington Borough Council spokesman said: "The aim is to prevent and intervene in anti-social behaviour, as well as reducing risk factors such as poor school attendance and drug misuse."

Ms Cheesman said her team would support parents until they are ready to "move on".

"I'm very passionate about this," she said. "Being a parent is a really difficult job and it can be hard to know who to turn to or contact about certain situations.

"We want to let people know that we are here to offer guidance, advice, and support. It's very much about supporting parents until they are ready to move on - without creating dependency."

When releasing the £4m funding, Tony Blair rejected "nanny state" accusations. He said: "No one's talking about interfering with normal family life.

"But life isn't normal when you've got 12-year-olds out every night, drinking and creating a nuisance on the street, with their parents not knowing or even caring.

"In these circumstances, a bit of nannying,

with sticks and carrots, is what the local community needs, let alone the child."

Darlington's support service can be reached on 01325-346861, or 346205.

Another eight authorities in the region have also received super nanny funding.