Parents who lost a ballot to turn Ripon Grammar School into a comprehensive are lodging a formal complaint - as they seek the quashing of the result.

Members of the Ripon Campaign Against State Education voted unanimously to complain to the Department for Education over alleged breaches in ballot regulations.

They will be calling for a re-run of the ballot - but with what they say would be a fairer electorate and the "withdrawal of misleading information".

But local MP David Curry, whose letter to parents is one aspect of the complaint, says: "I cannot imagine that anyone apart from a handful of campaigners wants another ballot.

"I'd be very sorry indeed if they couldn't put this issue behind them. The school and the town have already faced enough uncertainty and division."

The anti-grammar campaigners say that the ballot, which resulted in a comfortable majority for the grammar school supporters, was flawed in terms of which parents had a vote and the information they received.

"We feel very angry that parents have been manipulated and deceived. When we began canvassing we were receiving 70% or 80% support from parents - and we watched that decline as they were misinformed about what the ballot was really about," said spokesperson Debbie Atkins.

The complaint will highlight a pro-grammar promotional video sent to parents, which is accused of misrepresenting the future for schools in Ripon under a comprehensive system.

'Sour grapes'

The campaigners are also to complain about a letter in support of selection from David Curry, sent to all voting households which they say unfairly influenced parents.

Mr Curry says that considering the letter was sent before Christmas, "it is interesting that no-one has complained until March",

And the complaint will argue that it was unfair that 30% of the electorate lived outside Ripon - the majority of these being parents of children at private schools.

The supporters of retaining grammar-school status have said that there will be little support in Ripon for another ballot. On the night of the result, complaints had been rejected by the Ripon Secondary Schools Partnership as "sour grapes".

Education Secretary David Blunkett will have the final decision on whether to accept the complaint or to allow the result to stand.