Families in Helensburgh and Lomond with children going back to school are being reminded of a scheme that helps pay for childcare.

Working parents – including the self-employed – can use Tax-Free Childcare (TFC), which is worth up to £2,000 per child per year, to pay for regulated childcare pre and post school.

Parents can apply, through the childcare service, to open an online childcare account.

For every £8 that families pay in, the Government will make a top-up payment of an additional £2, up to a maximum of £2,000 per child per year (or £4,000 for disabled children).

This top up is added automatically and parents can then send electronic payments directly to their childcare providers.

The maximum government top-up is £500 per quarter for each child, or £1,000 if the child is disabled.

The money can go towards a whole range of regulated childcare including nurseries, childminders, before and after school clubs, or holiday clubs.

Parents can find out what government help is available and apply online by visiting the Childcare Choices website www.childcarechoices.gov.uk.

It includes a childcare calculator (www.gov.uk/childcare-calculator) that compares all the government’s childcare offers to check what works best for individual families.

Angela MacDonald, Director of Customer Services, HMRC said: “I hope working families across Scotland visit the Childcare Choice website to see what help is available.

"Tax-Free Childcare can make a real difference by cuttings thousands of pounds from childcare bills."

"The Childcare Choices website has been designed to make it easier for parents to find the right government childcare support for them #SmarterGov.”