THE parents of a four-year-old girl have hit out at Cheshire West and Chester Council for denying their daughter a chance to join her friends at reception.

Mia Wakefield has attended Weaverham Forest Pre-School since 2015.

Her parents intended for her to join the reception class at Weaverham Forest Primary School, but they were denied a place after they moved house, which is around half a mile away from the school.

They were instead offered a place at University Primary Academy Weaverham – the closest school to their house – but the Wakefields instead chose to appeal, though they were unsuccessful.

Mia was supposed to start school on Monday, but she has instead been kept home in the hope of being offered a last-minute offer at Weaverham Forest.

Mia’s mum, Vicky, said: “It’s just ridiculous how the system works. It’s just down the road.

“She should have been starting school this week. Looking back, I could have just lied and not said we moved to this address, they wouldn’t have known.

“I feel that being honest has not got us anywhere.”

Vicky said she told Mia she can’t go to Weaverham Forest yet because there isn’t enough room.

Currently she is top of the waiting list, although she is classed as a ‘low priority’ because of the distance to their home.

Vicky said she has been in regular contact with the school, but the school’s head teacher has told her their hands are tied.

Vicky and her husband Gary both attended Weaverham Forest, as well as a large number of relatives.

She said: “I feel angered that there are people sat behind desks saying, ‘oh they can go to that school, they can go there, they live a bit further so they can go there’.

“I don’t think they realise the effect they are going to have, sending the children to a new setting.

“Some children probably aren’t bothered but I know myself that it took Mia a while. It will affect her.

“I don’t want to put the pressure of a new school, only in one or two months to get a phone call from Forest saying she has a place.”

Vicky said she has been left frustrated with CWAC, and claims to have received mixed messages regarding the situation.

“I am a bit disgusted by the way we have been treated by Cheshire West and Chester Council,” she said.

“Some people have been helpful but others have just said ‘there is nothing we can do, we don’t know why you have been advised that’.

“Every time you ring, you never get through to the same person, there’s that many people answering the phones.

“You ring a week later and you’re back to square one.”

Cheshire West and Chester Council said it was unable to comment on the specific details of an individual case.

A spokesman said: "However, we can confirm that the Cheshire West and Chester School Admissions Policy ensures that a fair and transparent process is followed for the allocation of places to all applicants.

"In the situation where applications exceed the number of places available an over-subscription criteria is applied, of which distance is a factor in many instances.

"Cheshire West and Chester has a high percentage of 1st preferences being offered which is greater than the national average.

"There are occasions where the number of 1st preferences for a school out ways the number of places available, for this reason applicants are also asked for 2nd and 3rd preferences at the time of application.

"The independent Admissions appeals process enables applicants to have their case heard by an independent panel, so that the admissions policy applied can be scrutinised to ensure that due process has been followed."