LANCASHIRE County Council's head of education policy has admitted that the school admissions procedure is a 'lottery' and 'crazy.'

The row over places has been highlighted this year by the plight of a breakaway 'DIY School' in Burnley, set up after several parents refused to send their children to schools allocated by County Hall.

But the families were angered this week by the news that children have been admitted to a school which the county council said could take no more.

Alan Whittaker, Cabinet Member for Education and Young People, confirmed pupils were admitted into Gawthorpe High School, Padiham, through the appeals procedure. He said: "The decision is independent of me."

Explaining the reasons why the mothers have been refused places at Habergham, Ivy Bank and Gawthorpe, schools which are within walking distance of their homes, Mr Whittaker added: "Burnley was divided into four quarters and it was decided that 25 percent from each quarter would get a chance to get in, that means of course that everyone has a four-to-one chance of getting in.

"They are literally drawn out of a hat. This is a lottery. I think it is a crazy system, but that has been stated in the high court -- the judge said that."

A spokesman for the DIY School said: "We are being discriminated against. We were told by Alan Whittaker that these schools cannot take any more children.