The chairman of Notts County Council, Coun Joan Taylor (Lab), was given the honour of performing the ceremony.

Families who attended were able to meet visiting animals from the White Post Farm Park at Farnsfield, while Pogo the Clown provided entertainment.

The £650,000 Sure Start centre is located at Annie Holgate Infant and Nursery School, with little-used classrooms converted for the project, and it will be open to families with babies and children up to the age of five.

This is the latest in a growing network of centres providing integrated childcare with early learning for young children, health services, family support, a base for childminders and help into employment, including links with Jobcentre Plus.

Hucknall already has a similar £1.2 million project running at the Broomhill Road Children's Centre.

But when the High Leys plan was announced early last year, opposition came from parents worried that security of the building would not be tight enough.

Many wrote to the county council, claiming that a child could be abducted or escape from the building.

However, Coun Chris Baron, a Hucknall Labour member of the county council, said this week that he hoped the fears had now been allayed.

He added that attempts had been made to ensure that parking for the centre did not cause a traffic bottleneck.

Centre co-ordinator Mark Hoyland said: "We are very excited about the centre, which has been designed with the needs of local children firmly in mind.

"We look forward to welcoming many children and their families in the coming months."

By 2010, 3,500 children's centres will be up and running nationwide – one for every community, offering a range of services for young children and their families, tailored to meet local needs.

The new centre has received a special accolade from the Minister for Children, Young People and Families, Beverley Hughes.

She said: "I wish High Leys Children's Centre every success. By giving young children access to high-quality integrated care and early education and support, Sure Start is helping to improve their life chances and unlock their potential.

"Good, affordable and accessible childcare also enables parents to take up work, education or training and this has a knock-on effect in reducing child poverty.

"That is why the government is committed to ensuring that every child under five has the best start in life and that families in every community have access to a children's centre."