ANGRY parents whose children have been refused places at Tadcaster Grammar School will meet tonight to discuss their plight.

About a dozen final-year primary children from the Bishopthorpe area, which is within Tadcaster's catchment, are thought to have missed out on secondary school places there.

The school is oversubscribed, and North Yorkshire County Council has said that some children living furthest away within the catchment cannot have places this year. Alternative places have been offered instead at Fulford School, in York, by City of York Council.

But parents said today they were upset and devastated by the decision, which they claimed would separate friend from friend and divide Bishopthorpe.

Parents are planning to get together at eight o'clock tonight at the Ebor pub in Bishopthorpe to discuss what has happened and explore what to do next.

One mother, Catherine Nicholson, said her daughter, Samantha, had been extremely upset when she heard the news.

She said the family had moved to Bishopthorpe partly so that the children could go to Tadcaster Grammar.

Parents wanted to find out why some children from Bishopthorpe had been refused places when others had not. "This is splitting the community," she added.

Another mother, who did not wish to be named, said: "We were absolutely devastated when we heard."

York councillor John Galvin, who plans to attend tonight's meeting, said two sets of parents had contacted him about the decision and were very annoyed.

One was intending to explore every legal option to them to challenge the decision.

North Yorkshire County Council has defended the decision and pointed out that parents had the right of appeal.

Updated: 14:52 Monday, March 04, 2002