Nursery prices 'double in a decade'.

The price of a nursery place has nearly doubled over the last 10 years, leaving parents facing fees akin to a "second mortgage", a new study has revealed.

A full-time nursery place costs approximately £11,000 a year on average, according to a report by the Family and Parenting Institute.

While wages are stagnating, the average cost of a nursery place for a child under two has soared by 77% since 2003.

There is also widespread geographic variation in the cost of UK childcare, the report discovered.

In some areas a full-time nursery place costs as much as £42,000 a year, approximately 25% more than the school fees at an elite private educational establishment such as Charterhouse.

London topped the price list, with average nursery fees costing just under £14,000 a year for a full-time place.

Childcare costs are becoming increasingly unsustainable for UK families, with action desperately needed to remedy the situation, the report said.

Copyright Press Association 2013