PLANS to stop children playing sports tournaments and fixtures during the school day will "effectively kill school sport as we know it", it was claimed last night.

Headteachers in North Yorkshire say the cost of providing teacher cover means competitive fixtures against other schools should only be played at weekends and in the evenings.

But PE teachers - who fear the decision could wreck the tradition of inter-school football, rugby and hockey matches - say it will limit the opportunities for talented youngsters to progress and represent their area or county.

The Northern Area Heads of North Yorkshire Schools group, which includes ten secondary schools, decided to examine the timing of fixtures because of difficulties in covering lessons while PE teachers were away at matches.

They also say that a new Government initiative, which allows teachers to spend ten per cent of their working week on planning, preparation and assessment - so called PPA time - is exacerbating the situation.

Phil Beever, head of Richmond School and chairman of the group, said it was not fair on the pupils left behind.

He said: "We are trying to look at ways to not have as many staff out of school at one time. Every time staff go out there is a cost to the school because we have to cover with supply teachers. We have got to look at our budgets."

Last night, more than 40 PE teachers attended an emergency meeting of the Hambleton and Richmondshire School Sports Association, at Northallerton College, to discuss the plans.

H Martyn Coombs, head of PE at Bedale High School and secretary of the association, said more than 3,000 children in the area had been involved in sporting events during school hours so far this year.

In a letter to colleagues, he said: "The implications of the withdrawal of support by schools could effectively kill schools sport as we know it."

After the meeting, he told The Northern Echo: "We will seek to engage with the Hambleton and Richmondshire headteachers in due course with a view to continuing with school sport."

The responses from the meeting will be put to the next meeting of the Northern Area heads group.

In County Durham, the education authority was the first in the region to sign up to a School Sport Partnership, which gave schools the resources to cover for staff who were involved in organising and refereeing tournaments and fixtures.

Almost every school has signed up to the partnership, which is part of the Government strategy launched in 2000 called A Sporting Future For All.

Yesterday, a spokesman for the Department of Skills and Education said: "We have got quarter of a million teaching assistants and teaching numbers have never been as high as they are now - staff are there in schools."

Nick Sneaton, of the York-based Campaign for Real Education, said: "I would have thought there is something seriously wrong if schools can't find enough money to provide cover while they are having matches."