PARENTS appealing against the school places offered to their children in Lancashire are twice as likely to win than elsewhere in the country.

Today, concerned politicians called for a shake-up in the way places were allocated, claiming that having to fight for what they want can be 'incredibly stressful'.

Figures published by the Government show the percentage of parents winning their secondary school appeals in Lancashire is now 45 per cent - 855 of the 1,899 appeals were successful.

And 56 per cent of appeals - 365 from 475 - against allocation of primary school places were also successful in the county.

In Blackburn with Darwen, 39 per cent of appeals against secondary school placement - 75 from 206 - were successful, while 41 per cent of primary school appeals - 45 from 111 - were won .

Nationally, the number of appeals won by parents stood at 33 per cent for primary schools, and 34 per cent for secondary schools.

Lancashire has among the highest number of appeals in the country, a factor blamed by county hall bosses on the fact it is one of the largest local education authorities.

Today they blamed the number of appeals on the 'open' admissions policy it operates, but said 92 per cent of pupils got their first choice school.

East Lancashire parents have traditionally had a difficult relationship with the school selection process.

A campaign group was set up in the Ribble Valley in the late 1990s to fight for more school places in the area and stop children travelling up to 20 miles to school in Preston and Accrington.

And last year, angry parents in Burnley set up a 'DIY school' after children were refused places at the town's more popular schools.

Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans said: "Children aren't being put in the right school in the first place. That's why the successful appeal rate is so high.

"The appeal process can be incredibly stressful for children and parents, at a time when youngsters often already have concerns about moving to high school."

Conservative leader at Blackburn with Darwen Council, Colin Rigby, said: "The problem lies with league tables and parents demand places at the schools doing better."

A Lancashire County Council spokesman said: "More than 92 per cent of people who apply for school places in Lancashire get their first choice.

"Appeal decisions are made by independent panels, so it is not easy to speculate about a higher success rate."

Peter Morgan, director of education and lifelong learning at Blackburn with Darwen, also said the council could not put its finger on why appeals were high, but said it could be because a high number of schools have their own selection process.