New school places for 24 children in Berkshire village

The council says all the children will be offered a place at a senior school

Twenty-four children in a Berkshire village left without a school place of their choice due to catchment changes have been told places will be created.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead said it had altered the boundaries to iron out "anomalies".

But parents of 24 children in Cookham said it meant their school choices had all been rejected.

At a public meeting on Tuesday night, councillors announced an extra 40 places at Furze Platt Senior School.

Catchment area

The school, in Maidenhead, will take the pupils from September.

A council spokeswoman said another 40 places would also be created from the following September as well.

She said: "The Royal Borough is working with the head teacher of Furze Platt to identify the implications of these additional places and find the solutions."

Nearly 250 parents attended the meeting to hear councillors explain why the children had been left without a school place.

The council said the boundary changes had meant more parents in South Buckinghamshire had applied for schools in Cookham, leaving some parents without any of their three choices.

It previously said the changes were necessary because there were "strange anomalies", such as one school not even being in its own catchment area.