Police had to be called in to prevent "havoc" breaking out when parents swamped the entrance exam for a London grammar school.

Almost 1,500 pupils were competing for 126 places at Wallington County Grammar School in Sutton, threatening to create chaos.

Elsewhere, police are said to have been called on to help chaperone thousands of parents from railway stations on the day of the exams.

The credit crunch is forcing parents to attempt to save money on private school fees by sending their children to state grammars, according to experts.

But soaring demand has seen schools overwhelmed on 11-plus day.

Tina Marden, admissions secretary at Wallington, which has 880 pupils, said: "We had to have the police to control parking. We are on a red route and, if we didn't, people would cause havoc. The credit crunch does seem like an obvious thing that is affecting choices for parents at the moment."

Fewer parents than usual withdrew their children from the school to send them private last year, she said.

There are at least 10 applicants for every place at the most highly rated grammars. Competition appears to have intensified during the credit crunch. According to the Good Schools Guide, applications at almost one in five private schools have fallen by 10 per cent in four years, with the main winners being the selective grammar schools.

Last year at Wallington, 98 per cent of pupils scored at least five A*-C grades at GCSE including English and maths.

Robert McCartney QC, chairman of the National Grammar Schools Association, said applications across the country had reached record levels this year amid soaring demand from "aspirational parents". "One of the effects of the credit crunch is that those people who were just able to make the fees are no longer able to do so," he said.

"Because of the poor state of the comprehensive system they are desperate to get their children into grammar schools."

A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed that safer neighbourhood teams attended last month's exams at Wallington.

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