A pilot scheme to place electronic information points in places such as supermarkets and shopping centres has been launched by the Employment and Equal Opportunities Minister, Margaret Hodge.

This will allow parents to check on the availability of places in nurseries, playgroups and with childminders and will give information about job opportunities for working with pre-school children and benefits and training available to parents.

The government wants to make affordable childcare more widely available

"This is a simple and brilliant idea, using technology to give local people easy access to important information which can help them and their children," said the minister, launching the scheme at a Tesco supermarket in Feltham, Middlesex.

The Feltham Childcare Network will give information about local childcare provision, explaining the types of childcare on offer, contacts for local nurseries and playgroups, how much it costs and where parents might get advice and further information.

Touchscreens will also be installed in supermarkets in Newcastle, Cambridge, Peterborough and Sheffield.

The government has promised to increase the number of childcare places and to improve the quality of the care available, both as part of its efforts to raise educational standards and to help parents seeking to return to work.

This week, Ms Hodge unveiled details of what ability levels pre-school children should have reached, so that they do not begin school at a disadvantage.

But last week, statistics from the Department for Education showed that the number of childcare places available for the under-fives was continuing to fall, despite the government's need to create an additional 190,000 places if it is to meet its targets by its 2002 deadline.