DEPUTY Prime Minister Nick Clegg faced a tough audience when he arrived at a nursery in Culham.

The Liberal Democrats' leader was at the Culham Science Park Nursery yesterday to speak to parents about plans to offer free childcare for two-year-olds in low-income households.

Mr Clegg also took time out to read The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Gruffalo to children at the centre, complete with funny voices for all the characters.

He said: “At the moment, what the Government provides is 15 hours free pre-school support for all three and four-year-olds, and what we’re starting in September, is that if you have a two-year-old and you’re from a low-income family, you will also get 15 hours free pre-school.

“All the evidence now is that if you help a two-year-old, particularly from a difficult background, get into a supportive and loving stable setting like this it has a dramatic effect on their subsequent ability to perform at school.”

But mum Jenny Caw, 38, whose one-year-old son attends the nursery, said she felt parents who quizzed Mr Clegg on the policy gave him a “wake-up call”.

She admitted she wouldn’t qualify for the support, but said those who did would not see it go very far.

She said: “It will make such a small difference, because it’s only valid during term time. I don’t think he really realised that before he came and spoke to us.”