Angry parents today claimed that a shortage of primary school spaces in Langdon Hills will force them to walk their young children miles to school.

Tracy Palmer says she will have to take her daughter Megan, five, on rigorous 45-minute hikes from her home in Burr Close to Lincewood School when she starts there in September.

They will be walking past the gates of Great Berry School, in Forest Glade, Langdon Hills - the first choice for her daughter and only minutes from home.

"When you move into an area with a good local school, you don't expect to make a five-year-old walk 40 or 50 minutes before their day has even started," she said.

Each of the area's three primary schools has had its intake capped at 60 pupils.

But demand has completely outstripped supply and Great Berry School alone has refused places to 42 children - most of them living within the school's catchment area.

Education activist Derrick Fellowes, of the Campaign for a Local Secondary School (Class), claimed Essex county councillors knew the area was facing a shortage of school spaces.

A spokesman for Essex County Council said parents could not always get their favoured school option but they would be offered an alternative.

He said: "We can try to meet parents' preferences for their children's school but they won't always get their first choice."

Published Friday, May 2, 2003

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