LANCASHIRE County Council's schools general services sub-committee has suggested that Clitheroe Grammar School amends its admission policy from 2001/2002 onwards, to admit pupils resident in the Ribble Valley only.

Either this is a very naive call, or one deliberately intended to court controversy.

Either way, they should be experienced enough politically to suggest changes that have at least a remote chance of being taken seriously.

Clitheroe Grammar School has consistently, over a number of years, taken in 100 pupils from the Ribble Valley and 20 from outside. This is despite the fact that numbers living in the Ribble Valley have increased tremendously over the last 20 years.

The school's offer to increase the number of places to Ribble Valley pupils to 130 goes some way to redressing this imbalance. Far from the accusations of wanting to 'cream off' more good students, the governors are making a genuine offer to help alleviate the ongoing problems of secondary school shortages.

The lack of concern from County Hall about short-term place shortages is worrying to all parents who have children leaving Ribble Valley primary schools in the next few years.

The education authority should accept this offer and stop playing politics with our children's future.

STUART FINCH (Ribble Valley Schools for Ribble Valley

Children), Whalley Road,

Wilpshire, Blackburn.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.