One in four parents in parts of Sussex are failing to claim free money for their children.

Take-up of child trust funds, kick-started with a Government contribution of £250 at birth and boosted by two further deposits until a child reaches 18, varies across the county.

The area with the highest take-up is Mid Sussex, with 81.5 per cent of parents using their voucher to open an account for their child.

At the other end of the scale, only 70.8 per cent of parents in Brighton Kemptown are opening accounts.

Other places with higher take-up include Horsham (80.1 per cent) and Arundel and South Downs (78.6 per cent).

Areas of lower take-up include Hastings and Rye (71.5 per cent) and Crawley (73.2 per cent).

Overall, the money is being claimed by 77.1 per cent of West Sussex parents and 75.4 per cent of East Sussex parents.

The figures were published for Child Trust Fund Week, which started yesterday, and are aimed at encouraging parents and other family members to top up the funds in their children's accounts.

Earlier this month the Government announced that almost 2.5 million child trust fund accounts had been opened across the UK since they were introduced in 2005 for children born on or after September 1, 2002.

Lower-income Each child's account is started off with a £250 voucher from the Government.

A further £250 is paid into the account at age seven and a final top-up deposited during secondary school.

Children from lower-income households - about a third of the total - receive an extra £250 top-up at birth and at age seven.

The money cannot be touched until the child reaches 18 and parents, family and friends can contribute up to £1,200 a year in total into the account.

If parents do not use their voucher to open an account for their child, the Revenue and Customs automatically sets up an account on their behalf after a year.

Treasury minister Ed Balls said: "We want to encourage more parents and grandparents around the country to save more in their accounts."

Mr Balls said that when children reach 18 they could use the money to help put down a deposit on a flat, start off their pension savings or "take it out and spend it".

He said: "Eighteen-year-olds are adults. If they want to go out and blow it, they're adults - that's their choice. But young adults are much more sophisticated than that."