PASSIONS ran high as hundreds of frustrated parents crowded into Hoburne Holiday Park last night to discuss controversial plans to revolutionise school admissions in Christchurch.

The move follows a bitter row earlier this year when 40 school children from Mudeford Junior School were refused places at nearby Highcliffe School, which had accepted nearly 100 pupils from across the border in Hampshire.

Christchurch parents insisted they should have the right to choose which of the borough's three secondary schools they send their children to and have priority over children from outside the borough's boundaries.

But scores of parents from Southbourne who live close to Christchurch's Twynham School, but just outside the borough's boundaries, said proximity to the school should be considered.

Dorset education officer Phil Farmer said: "There was a lot of strong feeling and a lot of different views and arguments from parents living in and outside the borough.

"It will be very difficult to find a solution to all the problems that will satisfy everyone."

Dorset education chiefs admitted the current admissions policy, which is based on catchment areas drawn up nearly 30 years ago when the town was still in Hampshire, is complex and unclear.

They called the two-hour meeting with parents, school governors and head teachers to discuss the situation and six possible options, which included maintaining the status quo and even a complete ban on admitting children from outside the borough.

Maria Barham from the parents' action group from Mudeford, which is still fighting to send its children to Highcliffe, agreed that children from Christchurch should be given first preference.

"If there are any places left after children in the borough have been admitted then they can be given to children from Hampshire," she said. "At the moment it's the other way around."

Dorset education chiefs promised to note the views and concerns of the parents, but added that the meeting was only the first stage in a lengthy consultation process and they do not anticipate any changes to the existing system until at least September 2006.

Christchurch Borough Council will meet to discuss the issue next Tuesday.

First published: Oct 20