Nursery nurses have been striking over pay and conditions

Council bosses sat down with officials from the Unison trade union on Wednesday at the headquarters of the Cosla in Edinburgh.

But after almost two hours of talks no end was in sight to the ongoing dispute over pay.

However both parties said progress was made and more talks are planned.

Neither side had beens optimistic of agreeing an immediate end to the dispute, but both said that the fresh talks were a significant step in the right direction.

A spokeswoman for Cosal said: "The discussions held this afternoon have been very helpful and we hope there will be further talks in the very near future."

National deal

The Cosla currently wants the remaining 20 councils to reach local agreements, although Unison is holding out for a national settlement.

First Minister Jack McConnell recently urged both sides to reach an agreement, and described the row as "a national disgrace".

At present nursery nurses earn about �13,000 a year but they want an extra �4,000 to reflect additional duties they have had to undertake.