FIVE young children from a local village have been denied a place at their nearest primary school and face starting their education outside the district. Redbourn Village Infants School has been oversubscribed this year and even children already attending

FIVE young children from a local village have been denied a place at their nearest primary school and face starting their education outside the district.

Redbourn Village Infants School has been oversubscribed this year and even children already attending the adjoining nursery have been told they cannot continue at the school in September.

In total, there are nine children who have been turned down for a place at Redbourn Village Infants and seven of these did not receive any of their ranked schools. Five of the children who weren't allocated any of their chosen schools have been given school places in the Hemel Hempstead area.

Redbourn district councillor Tony Swendell believes every child in the village has the right to start their education at the local school.

He said: "This has caused an awful lot of problems for these parents, who are actually beside themselves. If you are going to move the kids from nursery to infants, it needs to be with people they know, faces they know and at a distance where they can participate in afterschool clubs.

"But we are sending them to strange schools with strange faces - that is not the way to start their education."

He doesn't think it's beyond the realms of possibility to create extra space at Redbourn Village Infants and employ an extra teacher for the children without a place instead of Herts County Council (HCC) spending huge amounts taxiing them to schools elsewhere.

HCC said they could not give details on which schools have been allocated.

A spokesperson for the children, schools and families department emphasised that parents had the option to appeal and register on continuing interest.