THE problem of providing sufficient places for secondary-school children has been such a vexed one in the Ribble Valley in recent years that -- against a background of strong parent protest -- some have had to be allocated places as far away as Accrington and Walton-le-Dale.

The cause lies in the Ribble Valley where housing development has outstripped school expansion and although there are plans to improve existing secondaries instead of building a new high school -- much anguish and anger remains.

For the situation means that many children stand to be split from the friends and classmates with whom they went to primary school and forced to travel considerable distances, entailing them in road safety risks and inconvenience.

Why, then, in such circumstances, should an offer of extra school places in the Ribble Valley for Ribble Valley children being going begging?

We find that highly-regarded selective Clitheroe Royal Grammar School, which opted out from Labour-run Lancashire Education Authority control and funding under provisions devised by the Conservative government, is offering 30 extra places -- which could ease the strain caused by the Ribble Valley's high schools being over-subscribed.

There are strings attached. In order to provide the places, CRGS wants money from the LEA to build a new classroom block. The authority says the cash cannot be spared as it is needed for the future redevelopment of Ribblesdale and Bowland high schools that is the long-term answer to the places problem.

There must be Yet are parents and children confronted by the problem at present being made to suffer because behind the refusal of this short-term solution there lies a clash of political ideology -- displayed by Labour resentment of 'Tory' grammar schools?

The present Labour government now wants grammars and non-selective schools to share resources and work together unhampered by any political resentment or ill feeling over 'Tory' grammar schools.

There must be no dogma-driven freeze on the sharing of resources -- if the upshot is that children have needlessly to go to schools miles from where they live.