Under the government's class-size reduction policy, classes in the first three years of primary school are limited to a maximum of 30 pupils.

But an admissions committee in Essex, which considers appeals by parents over the allocation of school places, has ruled that a school must give places to two extra pupils, even though this will take them over the government's limit.

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council has been given leave to apply for a judicial review of the admissions committee decision concerning Bournes Green Infant School, which is likely to be heard later this summer.

The council says that it is unacceptable for the Southend Borough Education Appeals Committee to require that places be made available for the two pupils, as this will mean employing an extra teacher, if the council is to keep within the government's limits on class size.

The council will seek legal backing for its right not to give places to children in schools where it would make the recruitment of another teacher necessary, or where an additional classroom would be needed.