MOTHER-of-two Alison McFarlane claims her younger daughter was cheated of a place at Calne's Fynamore Primary School because she told the truth.

When she filled out the applications for her daughters to attend the school last December, Mrs McFarlane put the family's address in Berkshire on the form, even though they had reserved a house in Calne, 40 yards from the school, which they moved into in February of this year.

Mrs McFarlane's elder daughter Katie, six, was accepted, but there were 72 applications for the 30 places for next September's reception class, and four-year-old Lucy was refused.

The Local Education Authorities said it had to take her Berkshire address into consideration, which meant she scored poorly on its ranked criteria, finishing 68th out of the 72 applicants.

"Lucy went to the bottom of the pile because I was honest and put our Berkshire address on the form, even though we were moving here," said Mrs McFarlane, 31, of Lansdowne Park.

"When I went to appeal the LEA's decision I was told by a member of the panel if I had lied about my address Lucy would have got a place at the school."

The McFarlanes were among 15 families who appealed against the LEA's ruling refusing their children places at the school, which will in many cases split siblings.

But at the appeal hearings, held in the Lansdowne Hotel in April by an independent panel, only one of the 15 cases was overturned.

The families met their local MP Michael Ancram on Friday to lobby for his support.

Justin Oliver, 36, moved from Calne to Chippenham last year, but already had two children at the school, Luke, eight, and Sophie, five. He also hoped to send his youngest Liam, four, to Fynamore but has been told his son does not have a place.

Mr Oliver, of Coniston Road, who attended the meeting with Mr Ancram, said: "We all came out feeling very positive because we felt as if he had listened to us and was on our side.

"He said he was going to write a letter to Wiltshire County Council asking for the facts and figures, which he said he will look at very carefully."

Mrs McFarlane, who is married to an ex-soldier, was born in Wiltshire and spent many years at RAF Lyneham, where her father was based.

She said she has moved 19 times in her life and she and her husband Andrew, 41, decided to move back to Wiltshire to provide some stability for their young family.

"I feel so bitter and it's caused so much stress it's not healthy," she said. "It's has left a lot of people very upset because it is messing with their lives.

"I want my children to be together and I won't give up. I'll go as far as I have to. I won't take Katie out of a school where she is very happy."

Also vowing to battle on is Lynn Elliott, 44, of the Knapp, in Calne, who has two children in the same class at the school, Francesca, six, and Stefan, seven, who has special needs.

Mrs Elliott wants her children to stay together, but her four-year-old daughter Alberta has been refused a place. She says she is going to continue her fight against the LEA to ensure her children have the best possible future she can give to them.

Wiltshire's director of education Bob Wolfson said: "I naturally regret the situation and both the leader of the council and I are hoping to see the minister of state for this area to discuss this particular issue.

"The problem is this is unlikely to be resolved fast enough for the parents currently concerned, but we would want to resolve this for the future.

"I would say this is happening all over the county and the country. It comes down to a problem of conflicting Government policies. The right of parental preference and children attending their nearest school."