AN angry mum is keeping her daughter at home because she wants her to go to school with her sister.

Natasha Grundy was due to start Hayward School in Great Lever last week after being allocated a place by education chiefs.

But mum Brenda wants her to go to Little Lever School with her sister Lauren, 14, and has vowed to keep her daughter home until she can.

"She should have gone back on Tuesday but I'm not sending her," said Mrs Grundy, of Waters Edge, Farnworth. "I work, so I want them to go to school and come home together."

Mrs Grundy says Natasha could have won a place at Harper Green, Bolton's most oversubscribed school, if she had put her local secondary at the top of her list.

But she was convinced that she lived close enough to Little Lever to allow Natasha to follow in her sister's footsteps.

Pressure

Mrs Grundy was devastated to learn that the growing popularity of Little Lever means there is increased pressure for places in the village and Natasha now lives too far away to qualify.

Harper Green was also full, so education chiefs allocated Natasha a place at Hayward School.

But Mrs Grundy remains defiant: "I'm not sending her alone to a school miles from home when she and her sister can catch a bus around the corner that takes them straight to Little Lever."

An education authority spokesman said: "A booklet for parents sets out the policy for allocating secondary school places very clearly. It makes clear that this does not include sibling links.

"The LEA will talk to Mrs Grundy about the issues and the need to ensure her child attends school as soon as possible."

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