PARENTS who fear their children may miss out on places at a top-performing secondary school have launched a David and Goliath battle to overturn admission rules.

Families in villages on the outskirts of Durham City were furious after the Independent Schools Adjudicator ruled priority for admission to Durham Johnston should go to children living closest.

Parents say this breaks a long-standing promise that the school’s recently completed £23.8m reorganisation would not break its historic links with communities such as Bowburn and Shincliffe.

Now a parents’ group has launched a campaign to challenge the decision in the High Court, in a judicial review.

The move represents a major risk – if the parents are defeated, they could face a legal bill running into tens of thousands of pounds.

Durham County Council has already resisted pleas to seek a judicial review itself, with Councillor Claire Vasey saying it could cost £100,000 and would be unlikely to succeed.

But Neville Hallam, a spokesman for the parents, said: “Parents are hoping that a judicial review will quash this determination, which is a necessary step towards ensuring future arrangements are fair and equitable for all communities in and around Durham City which have been served by the school.

“The issue is now in the hands of the High Court, and it is the court that determines if, how and when the next stages of the review process can take place.”

The council wanted priority for places to go to children at seven “feeder” primary schools. But adjudicator Alan Parker ruled these proposals were technically flawed and could be misleading for parents.

After the ruling, Mr Hallam branded the system “unfair and inequitable” and council leader Simon Henig said it was quite wrong that the vast majority of parent opinion could be cast aside by a single stroke of a pen by an unelected bureaucrat.

Councillor Nigel Martin, a Liberal Democrat county councillor and governor at Durham Johnston, said: “I’m very sad it’s come to this, but I understand the frustrations of the residents of Shincliffe and Bowburn. I have a lot of sympathy with them and I’ve always supported the case that the school continue to serve those communities.”

A decision on whether a judicial review is granted could be several weeks away.