PARENT power has won the day as a 7,000-name petition forced Hertfordshire County Councillors into a U-turn over new primary schools admission rules.

The controversial rules, introduced last year, gave children living close to their chosen primary school preference over those with brothers or sisters already at the school.

The council believed it would only affect a tiny minority of families. But parents argued the new rules would divide families and be a logistical nightmare for those trying to get children to two different schools.

Spelling out their concerns to members of the council's education committee on Wednesday, Mr Oliver Hyams, representing the First Steps Action Group, said by ensuring that one child got to school on time the other would always be late, the result, parents breaking the law 'day after day', he said.

Adding that the burden of providing support to two primary schools was too much for most families, he urged councillors 'not to leave the rules as they are'.

Vice-chairman of the education committee Julian Taunton acknowledged parents' concerns.

He said: 'These rules would add to road congestion and result in a loss of sibling support, while parents would have the difficulty of supporting more than one primary school and after-school activities would be curtailed.'

The comments received cross-party support from committee members and councillors agreed in principle to reverse their earlier decision.

That means that parents applying for nursery and primary school places for September 2001 will have their applications considered using the old rules, giving siblings priority for places once more.

For legal purposes, however, this decision must be ratified by the Government's adjudicator, who will announce his decision in the next six weeks.

For parents with children joining nursery schools this September, who have already been allocated places under the new rules, these decisions still stand.

Meanwhile, councillors agreed to consult with parents and schools to develop an acceptable primary and nursery admissions policy for September 2002.

The decision has delighted Mrs Katy Fleet, who helped spearhead the campaign to have the current rules changed.

Mrs Fleet said: 'I'm over the moon. I can't believe that in three months a council could do so complete a U-turn.'

'Everyone is so relieved that these rules have been thrown out, but how they got there in the first place has got to be looked at.'