PARENTS in Bromsgrove are being told by education chiefs not to worry about getting a school place for their children in the town.

The town's schools are almost full and some headteachers have warned that they can't find places for certain age groups.

The situation hasn't been helped by Worcestershire County Council missing out on £40m of Private Finance Initiative cash to help build more classrooms.

But Colin Weedon, the head of education policy at County Hall, reassured parents that their children did not face being bussed out of town. "We haven't had to bus anyone out of the area yet," he said.

"We have enough school places. The problem is that much of the accommodation is temporary and we wanted to replace it using the PFI money. We're disappointed about the bid but we made the reserve list and that's encouraged us to apply again."

Mr Weedon also allayed fears about an influx of children on new housing estates pushing schools over their limit. He said many new houses were bought by local people whose children already occupied a school place.

"Parents should be prepared not to get their first choice or their most local school," he said. "That's been the case in some areas for a long time."

He said parents would run into difficulty if they failed to apply on time or were looking for a school outside their area.