PARENTS face up to five years or more of heartbreak and uncertainty before Ribble Valley gets a new high school to meet demand for local classroom places, according to campaigners.

They said they were extremely disappointed that Lancashire County Council had got no further than simply acknowledging the need for a new school.

Even news that Ribble Valley Council is searching for suitable sites east of Clitheroe failed to raise their spirits after a meeting with county councillors and education boss Ken Wales, yesterday.

Stuart Finch, spokesman for campaigners fighting for more high school places in the borough, said: "There doesn't seem to have been any progress apart from the acknowledgement they need a new school. There was no commitment to build a new school.

"Parents across south Ribble Valley are worried about the possibility their children will not be offered a Ribble Valley school for the next three to five years."

Mr Finch said campaigners want the new school in the Whalley area or west of the town, rather than as far east as Gisburn.

Parent Maureen Tattersall, whose daughter had to start high school in Hyndburn last year, told the meeting of the county council area consultative forum in Nelson: "With all the new housing going up in Ribble Valley this problem is not going to go away. It seems everyone is passing the buck and we are going round in circles while children and parents are having the heartbreak we're going through." Ken Wales, head of Lancashire's pupils services division, which deals with admissions, said: "We can only work within the framework set by the Department for Education and Employment.

"If we look at the date before us in relation to the way school populations will increase over the next two or three years, we anticipate there will be further marginal increases and after that there will be a falling away of pupil numbers. That's not taking account of any new build (of houses).

"We're very conscious each year of trying to satisfy parental preferences."

Mr Wales said the county's education committee will meet on May 16 to discuss progress in drawing up a strategy to tackle the issue.

David Morris, chief executive of Ribble Valley Council, told parents the search is on for possible school sites. "We've looked at various sites in Barrow, Whalley and Gisburn," he said. "They are being actively pursued. There are difficulties and it is not straightforward, but we have started looking."