THE Government's U-turn on childcare arrangements has been welcomed by officials across the North-East.

Health secretary Matt Hancock announced the change in the House of Commons on Monday, just days after grandparents in the North-East were effectively banned from looking after their grandchildren.

North-East councils had pushed for informal childcare to be allowed within families to enable parents to continue to go to work.

However, the restrictions placed on the area by the Government initially refused the request, with only paid-for professional childcare allowed.

Mr Hancock acknowledged that such restrictions could stop many parents from doing their jobs.

Children under the age of 14, or vulnerable adults, can now be looked after by a family member.

The u-turn came after a Tyne Valley mum-of-three started a petition calling on the Government to reverse the decision.

More than 6,700 people signed the petition in just four days.

A joint statement, signed by council leaders across the North East - including Northumberland County Council's Coun. Glen Sanderson and North of Tyne Mayor Jamie Driscoll - praised the changes.

It read: ""As soon as new COVID control measures were introduced across the North East we began lobbying Government to include an exemption to allow families to continue their informal childcare arrangements.

"This was an exemption we asked for in our original request to Government and we're delighted the Secretary of State has reversed his decision.

"We knew these restrictions would ask a lot of our communities, but we did not want them to hinder people unnecessarily."