More than £7 million could be ploughed into an area around St Helier under a scheme to give disadvantaged children a better start in life.

Approximately 865 children under four years old stand to benefit from the Government's Sure Start programme.

Sure Start aims to tackle social exclusion and child poverty and has four main ways of doing this. They are: to improve children's social and emotional development; improve health; improve children's ability to learn and to strengthen families and communities.

This will be done by establishing a range of services to help mothers and fathers develop good parenting skills, prepare children for school and promote healthy living.

The catchment area for the scheme takes in most of the St Helier and Wandle Valley wards, part of the Wrythe ward and the Wandle Valley and Durand estates.

The area will get up to £800,000 per year over the next seven to 10 years and an additional £1million will be spent in the first three years to get the project off the ground.

Sutton Council, Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust, and members of the community and local organisations will lead the way in deciding the kind of services which will be set up.

The scheme was approved by councillors at Tuesday's strategy committee meeting and a finalised plan is due to be announced in January.

Spokesman for the programme Councillor Angela Baughan said: "The parents, voluntary groups and the community will lead on Sure Start. It's that partnership which will decide on what they want and where they want it."