PARENTS fear a complicated schools admissions policy may result in children living nearest to their local comprehensive missing out on places.

Like many schools across the country, Wolsingham School and Community College, in Wear Valley, has had to abolish surplus places at the school by demolishing outdated or temporary buildings in line with Government regulations.

But now parents in the village fear it may backfire, as the number of yearly admissions to the school has been slashed from 218 pupils to 152 and some pupils may be turned away from the school.

Parent governor Anita Atkinson and past chairman of the education admissions appeal panel, says that the current admissions procedure means priority for places is given to pupils from feeder schools who live a bus journey from the school, which means pupils living in Wolsingham itself could miss out.

Mrs Atkinson said she rang Wolsingham's feeder schools to try and establish how many parents were planning on sending their children to the comprehensive and found that about 180 pupils will by applying for the school's 152 places.

She said: "The admissions criteria is that places are allocated firstly to children travelling by bus, which makes sense because there may not be a school where they live. But it's simple to see what's going to happen in the future. They've got rid of too many places by physically cutting the capacity in the school by demolishing the Prefabs, and classrooms where subjects used to be taught have been changed into laboratories.

"This school has served the children of Wolsingham for nearly 400 years and now the ridiculous situation is that children from the village may not get in."

But a spokeswoman for the local education authority, Durham County Council, said parents should not be unduly worried, especially as next year's admission numbers are not yet known.

She said: "Parents should not be unduly concerned. You do get bigger or smaller years, there's nothing unusual in that and parents should not feel there is going to be a problem.

"We are already in discussion with the school about accommodation and various possibilities to deal with it.

"Because children don't live in Wolsingham itself doesn't mean that Wolsingham school is not their appropriate school and if they live more than two miles away, they will travel to school by bus. There is nothing unusual in that.