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Paying grandparents to provide child care for their grandchildren is not the answer to the shortage of child care in the UK, the Daycare Trust has warned.

The charity says that paying grandmothers is at best "a short-term sticking plaster" to mask the failings in current services, insisting that no other European country sees investing in informal child care as the way to achieve quality services.

Director of the Daycare Trust Stephen Burke said that many grandparents do not live close to their grandchildren and those who want to be paid for looking after children can be registered as childminders.

A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions said the government was looking at a scheme run by Nottinghamshire Council, which awards vouchers to child carers, including grandparents, of up to £25 per child per week.

- The Family Rights Group last week launched a guide for grandparents raising their grandchildren. Second Time Around is based on the recommendations of a survey last year that found that inconsistent financial provision leads to financial hardship in 71 per cent of cases, a lack of legal security for grandparents looking after children and high court costs. For more details phone 020 7923 2628.