I WAS surprised and quite alarmed by the headline of Haydn Lewis's piece, "Church of England gets tough on fake Christians" (March 15).

I fully support the C of E initiative to reduce "false" applications for foundation places at its voluntary-aided schools; however, your readers should know that the governors of Manor School have a sensitive and very difficult job in distinguishing between legitimate and illegitimate applications to the school.

Ultimately, only the Almighty is able to distinguish between genuine and "fake" Christians.

Thankfully, that job is well beyond my remit, or anyone else's in the C of E!

Brian Crosby,

Head teacher,

Manor C E School,

Low Poppleton Lane,

York.

Updated: 10:59 Saturday, March 18, 2006