PARENTS across East Lancashire are being urged to back a campaign calling for school uniforms to become ‘more affordable’.

The Schoolwear Association’s campaign wants the Government to introduce a scheme similar to childcare vouchers to make uniforms tax deductible.

If approved, the scheme would allow workers at participating employers to receive a small part of their salary each month as vouchers, redeemable at participating schoolwear suppliers throughout East Lancashire.

An e-petition has been set up to try and bring the matter to the attention of the Prime Minister.

Ged Mirfin, a school governor at St Leonard’s CE Primary School in Langho, said: “This is something that I have supported for some time.

“I think that school uniforms represent an extremely costly ongoing outlay for many parents.

“This is despite the fact that there are cheaper alternatives like sewing a badge to a T-shirt or using a jumper.

“I had to pay £300 to make sure my three children had the right school uniforms ahead of the start of the last academic year.

“I think this would benefit a lot of parents.”

According to a poll by the association, an average child wears their uniform for ten hours a day, which equates to 1,500 hours a year.

It also revealed that children get through on average four pieces of uniform a year.

Rachel Rhoades, co-founder of the Mum’s The Word charity, said: “This is something that we very much support.

“High prices for school uniforms put a lot of stress on parents which they just don’t need.

“Children always want to feel part of something and one of the best ways is to have a brand new school uniform at the start of term.

“We are campaigning for lower school uniform prices and it’s positive that this drive has been started.”

The e-petition is available at http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/65790