A shortage of UK childminders is looming - but not in Bradford, which is bucking the national trend.

New research findings point to growing numbers of childminders leaving the job due to low pay and low status.

But in Bradford, thanks to a successful partnership between childminders and the local authority, the business is booming.

Judith Dalby, chairman of the Bradford Childminders' Association, said: "There is no shortage in Bradford at the moment. We have quite a few people coming into it because they are being offered the enticement of start-up grants."

The research, funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, highlighted a significant fall in the number of registered childminders nationally - despite a Government campaign to recruit more.

Official figures show a drop from 106,000 registered childminders in England in 1992 to 76,000 in 2000.

The research, by London University's Institute of Education, shows that registered childminders are the main providers of formal childcare while parents are working. Most childminders are women with young children of their own, enabling them to combine paid self-employment with staying at home.

Professor Peter Moss, a co-author of the study, said: "Childminding largely depends on women being prepared to work at home for low wages. The declining number of childminders suggests that the present situation is unsustainable."

In Bradford, according to Mrs Dalby, who has been working as a childminder for seven years, people were attracted to the job because of start-up grants and training available to those starting their own businesses.

"Within Bradford, I don't think there's that much of a problem," Mrs Dalby said. "Childminders are under pressure and we will be subjected to Ofsted inspection from September. But we have a lot of support here in Bradford from social services and from the Early Years Childcare Service.

"There is free training provided here - I know that in other areas, local authorities are not as good."