Tony Blair enjoyed some fresh watermelon at a children's breakfast club.

The Prime Minister, accompanied by education secretary Ruth Kelly, was handed a bowl of fruit as he chatted with pupils and parents yesterday at St Bartholomew's CE Primary School in Ann Street, Brighton.

Mr Blair wants to expand breakfast clubs throughout the country to enable more parents to enter full-time work.

He said: "For parents who are going out to work it does make a difference. Unless you have quite strange working hours you need this."

St Bartholomew's breakfast club, which runs from 8am to 8.45am every school day morning, was set up last year.

Children are offered a long list of items including cereal for 50p, buttered toast for 10p, bacon sandwiches for 80p and a croissant with jam and butter for 20p. The pupils pay the cost of the food and the Government pays the wages of the three staff who run the club.

So far 40 of the school's 180 pupils, aged four to 11, have signed up. One of them, six-year-old Imogen Whittle, yesterday polished off a plate of bacon and toast. She said: "I like it because there's lots of choice. I like trying different things."

After breakfast Mrs Kelly cut a ribbon to open an £80,000 community room at the school which will be used for after-school clubs and other activities.

September 29 2005