Three children are fighting for every childcare place in Sussex.

According to the Department for Education, the number of registered places in the county is only 43,600.

But there are 131,700 children aged eight or under who could need access to childcare.

In Brighton and Hove there are 7,100 places and 20,500 under-eights. In East Sussex, 14,100 places are available for 42,900 youngsters and in West Sussex 68,300 children are chasing 22,400 places.

The shortage of places leaves many working families having to arrange for relatives or friends to look after children.

Experts warn that in some cases they can end up in the hands of non-registered carers who have not passed criminal record checks.

Stephen Burke, director of national charity the Daycare Trust, said despite a doubling of childcare places in the past six years there was a long way to go before the situation was acceptable.

He said: "Access to childcare depends on families' incomes and where they live.

"This often means those children who would benefit most from quality childcare services are the ones who miss out."

Complete access would require a registered place for each child - something his group is calling for.

In 1998 the Prime Minister launched a childcare strategy designed to guarantee accessible and affordable quality care was available for all children up to 14 years.

Children's minister Margaret Hodge insisted the Government had taken steps to tackle the problem and would continue to do so.

She said: "We have funded a substantial expansion in childcare provision of the public, private and voluntary sectors, with a wide variety of types of childcare including nurseries, childminders and after-school provision."

The minister said almost a million new childcare places had been created nationwide since 1997.