THESE are just some of the parents and children who will never pass through the gates of a Hampshire school unless ways are found to beat a classroom crisis.

A total of 24 families living within the school's catchment area have been told: "There is no place for your child at the school."

But Jeanette Burrows, of Athena Close, Fair Oak, and Rebecca Barnett, of Shamblehurst Lane, set out to trace every parent whose child had been refused a place to start school at Fair Oak in September in a bid to see if collective action would bring about a change of heart.

Now an action group has been formed and battle plans are being drawn up to fight the decision.

Hampshire County Council has acknowledged there is a "bulge" at Fair Oak Infant School, pointed to school places being available in Eastleigh but also said discussions were continuing to explore ways of enlarging Fair Oak Infant.

But that has cut little ice with angry parents who are trying to set up a meeting with Eastleigh MP David Chidgey and Hampshire County Council's chief executive.

The parents claim that the county's planning policy for school places in Fair Oak has been totally inadequate and that the education authority is trying to fill spaces in Eastleigh.

"We are not happy putting our children on public transport or transport that Hampshire County Council has planned to send them on an eight-mile round trip each day," said Jane Edwards. "In this day and age they all go on about community and traditional values. We are being ousted from our community and being asked to go into somebody else's."

Mrs Edwards added that the situation was putting a strain on people's lives and livelihoods - especially in families where both parents worked.

And Mrs Burrows said: "We want to know what Hampshire County Council intends to do about it."