Four mothers in Harpenden have launched a website guiding parents to local facilities and activities from "bumps to teens".

Family friendly website Mum’s Guide to Harpenden launched on June 1, receiving more than 1,100 visits in its first week.

Katie Fenner, Alison Fox, Angela Woodhead and Carol Rule, all in their 30s, have lived in the town for at least eight years.

Their website, which is aimed at mothers and grandparents, covers the whole of childhood, from antenatal to offspring leaving home. It provides information on facilities and activities in the area.

Mrs Fenner, 32, began research for the site after being handed a guidebook on San Francisco where she lived for six months while her husband worked.

She said: "The book was like a Bible for me during those six months and we all felt that there was a huge need for mothers to be able to find all their local info in one place.

"We’re all so busy looking after children and once our children hit the age of five, we found that information was limited and we were expected to find out ourselves.

"We felt ready for a challenge. With our own personal experiences and knowledge we spent five months doing research before Alison, our technical guru, put the site together."

The mothers have 12 children between them, aged from one year to eight.

The youngsters attend St Dominic Catholic Primary School, Crabtree Infants' School, Roundwood Park School, Batford Nursery and Baloonatics Pre-School.

As well as looking after their families, the mothers have experience in marketing, law and website design.

The group hope one day they will be able to expand the guides to other areas.

Mrs Fenner added: "We’ve had such a positive response from the public, with so many asking when we are going to do ‘Mum’s guide to St Albans’ and other local areas.

"I keep wondering how people have found it - it’s really shown how a bit of word-of-mouth has worked wonders.

"Overall I think the best part of the work, besides meeting new people, is being able to work with my friends. I get to see them every week and have a catch up beforehand."

For more information, visit the website: www.mumsguideto.co.uk