ANXIOUS parents no longer have to stop watching their children at a Burnley school's gates thanks to Big Brother-style cameras.

Sunnybank Prep School, Manchester Road, has become the first in the country to introduce CCTV so parents can watch youngsters in class on the internet.

The system has been installed by Sheffield-based company Teletoddlers. Despite cameras in every classroom and even the playground, parents can only watch where their own child is and headteacher Barbara Cross can monitor who is watching youngsters.

She said: "The main reason for this is so parents have access to children in the nursery.

"If mum's a bit concerned she can log on to the internet and watch them. If children see their parents they can get upset.

"A parent logged on yesterday because her little boy had been ill and was delighted to see him sitting up and eating. There are lots of other reasons as well, such as security."

Every parent has been given their own username and password and the school held a meeting last week for parents to ask questions and voice any concerns. Mrs Cross said no one has said they do not want their child to be filmed.

Managing director of Teletoddler, George Bathurst, said the system has been installed in a number of nurseries since the company was set up in February and is designed to give parents peace of mind.

He said: "We have been rushed off our feet the past few months.

"There was a BBC expose called Real Story about a nursery in Manchester over the summer and this allows nurseries to be self-regulating.

"In the United States, where this technology has been used for about five years, there has been a measurable improvement in results where this has been put in schools.

"In nursery schools the children are protected and in schools the children can't take the mickey so much and play one adult off against another."