Parents sue after son is denied place at school for living 17 yards out of boundary

So when they needed to move house, they checked on the council's 'school finder' website that their new home was inside the catchment area.

But as the new academic year approached, they were told son Jamie could not follow his sister to Godinton Primary after all - because their new house is 17 yards too far from the school.

The Bints' plight is a stark example of the frustration felt - and expense incurred - by parents attempting to navigate school admissions rules.

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Mr and Mrs Bint are challenging the decision with the Local Government Ombudsman. If that fails, they plan to sue the local council for the cost of moving to the £250,000 home in Ashford, Kent.

Kent County Council claimed the school finder on its website depends on a different database to that used when calculating distances between a home and the school.

While the website uses postcode areas, officials whittling down school place applications use more accurate door-to-door measurements.

This means that, while the website told the Bints their new home was within two miles of Godinton, it turned out to be 17 yards outside the boundary. Bizarrely, the Bints' old house was actually further away. Two

miles of it to make sure any further children are guaranteed a place.

This is designed to prevent parents buying a house near a sought-after school - and then moving back to a cheaper home once one child has secured a place.

Studies have shown that house prices near popular schools can be one fifth higher.

Mrs Bint, who moved into the new house 16 months ago, said: "Jamie just can't believe he's not going to be going to school with his sister.

"He can't understand why he's not going to school. He thinks he's not big enough. I don't want to split the children up and I don't think I should have to.

"If it comes to it we are prepared to go to court over this.

"It's not cheap to move house and obviously we would not have moved to this house if we thought it would mean we could not get into the school. We made sure the house we chose was in the two-mile radius. We entered the postcode and Godinton came up as being within two miles.'

She added: "My daughter is devastated. She really loved school but now she has gone back to all her little girl nightmares."

Kent's director of education Ian Craig said the council planned to put a notice on its website making clear that door-to- door measurements were used to calculate distances for school places, rather than postcodes.

"We will explain very clearly this should not be taken as exact and parents really need to check with admissions the precise GPS mapping distance,' he said.

"This is very unfortunate and I really do feel sorry for the parents.

"Junior officers correctly applied the rules and a totally independent appeals procedure, which heard all the evidence, came to the same conclusion."