CHILDREN facing separation from their siblings under new primary school admission rules which looked set to divide families won a reprieve this week.

On Tuesday the Government's adjudicator announced that children joining nursery and primary school in 2001 would be able to follow in the footsteps of their older brothers and sisters.

The decision reverses rules imposed by Hertfordshire County Council in December last year, which gave children living closest to a nursery or primary school preference over and above siblings of existing pupils.

It is a stay of execution for parents in south west Hertfordshire, who have been battling against this change to the rules since its imposition.

Following the adjudicator's decision, parents have been invited to take part in consultation with the county council, which is seeking to address concerns highlighted in a 7,000-name petition presented to its education committee in July.

Chairman of the education committee Keith Emsall welcomed the consultation, due to begin this autumn, which he said would give the county council time to establish acceptable admission rules for children starting nursery and primary school from September 2002.

Councillor Emsall said: 'We will start all over again, talk to more people and see if there is a way the problems can be addressed.

'We will have to see if we can arrive at a better balanced set of rules.'

However, he said the consultation process would also seek to address the problem of pupils living close to the primary school or nursery school of their choice who are losing out to siblings of pupils who live further afield - the issue the original change to the schools' admission rules had sought to address.