CAMPAIGNERS fighting for more secondary school places in the Ribble Valley have repeated their challenge to Lancashire County Council to explain why it has not taken up the offer of extra places which they believe could ease the problem.

According to the county council, seven families in the Ribble Valley heard this week that they will have to go before a tribunal to argue the case for their children to have a place at a local school, after chosen schools were over-subscribed.

Campaigners from the Ribble Valley Schools for Ribble Valley Children (RVSRVC) say parents' anguish could be avoided each year if Lancashire County Council agreed to provide funding so Clitheroe Royal Grammar School could provide 30 extra places, freeing up places at local secondary schools.

But the council says providing places at the school, which has its own admissions procedure, would not guarantee places for local children.

Stuart Finch, from the RVSRVC said the anguish for parents for another year could be avoided if the council acted.

"I think the parents are feeling in total confusion right now. It is a total shock for them to have to go through the appeal process," he said.

"There does not seem to be any hard and fast rules over if you go to an appeal, whether you will get in. These extra places at Clitheroe Royal Grammar School are open for discussion and negotiation, if only they can get the funding. We want to know why the offer has not been taken up, which would have avoided all of this."

He said parents would be meeting with Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans in the next few weeks to discuss their worries.

He challenged county council leader Hazel Harding to attend and explain the council's position.

Parents fear that the problem is set to get worse in the future, with planned developments which will bring extra families into the area.

Mr Finch added: "It is hoped that something can be done in time to avoid the long trek from Great Mytton to Walton-le-Dale, or indeed the political uproar if parents quite rightly refuse to make their children make the journey."

Mr Evans said: "We were told that the situation would get better and it clearly has not.

"We need extra provision in the area, or, failing that, we need a new school. We cannot carry on with the kind of provision that is available. It is about time the local authority now listened to the people who are actually paying the bill at the end of the day."

A spokesman for the county council said: "In recent years, we have increased and improved school provision in Ribble Valley high schools, in response to the concerns of parents in the area.

"Although there are currently around seven Ribble Valley families who are still seeking to appeal for places in Ribble Valley community high schools for their children, it should be noted that the admissions process is not yet complete, and additional places normally become available when parents who have applied for places simultaneously in both the independent sector and through our own admissions process decide which place they will take up."