Four year-old twins Sammy and Saady Khayal have always done everything together.

But they found themselves facing a forced separation when the pair were offered places at different primary schools starting in September.

It was only when The Argus stepped in yesterday morning to ask about their plight that the issue was resolved.

The twins’ parents Magdy and Adriana were told Sammy would be going to St Bernadette’s Primary School off London Road, Brighton.

However Saady had a place at St Joseph’s Primary School in Davey Drive, a mile-and-a-half away.

St Bernadette’s was Mrs Khayal’s second choice for her sons but she had not selected St Joseph’s as an option.

Mrs Khayal told The Argus the couple would have struggled to cope with getting both youngsters off to school on time if no solution was found.

St Bernadette’s is a short bus ride from the family’s home in Braybon Avenue, but two buses would be needed to reach St Joseph’s.

Speaking before the council changed their decision, Mrs Khayal, 33, told The Argus: “I simply cannot be in two places at the same time. My husband works full-time and so it is up to me. I asked for schools that were relatively close and assumed the twins would be together.

“Instead we have this situation. I have contacted the council and contacted St Bernadette’s.

“I have spoken to the council several times. I’m told I can try to appeal the decision but that won’t be until July and there is no guarantee even then because the spaces are just not there.

“Trying to take two small children to and from different schools like this will be impossible. It would be difficult enough if they were different ages but when they are twins it’s even more difficult.”

Although the boys are not identical, they are very close, and Mrs Khayal was worried they would find it difficult.

She said: “They do everything together. Saady in particular is quiet. They could cope with being in different classes and seeing each other at break times but having totally different schools would be a real problem. They will be lost.”

Shortly after The Argus contacted the city council to ask for a comment, the family were told both twins could have a place at St Bernadette’s.

A council spokesman said: “We have been working behind the scenes with the school the family applied to ever since the family raised this issue with us last week.

“We’re delighted to have been able to contact the family today to confirm that both twins have now been offered places at the school.

“We’re very sorry that a small error in processing their application form has led to this situation and we have apologised to the family and to the school for this.”

The Argus:

Council under pressure to find additional space

Analysis by Gareth Davies

More parents than last year will be taking their children to their first choice school in September, but the burning issue in the county is the number of additional spaces authorities must find.

In Brighton and Hove the number of pupils offered their first preference school is up by 117 this year at 2,509 or 87.8%, compared to 2,392 or 82.5% in 2014.

The percentage of pupils offered one of their three preferred schools is also up at 95.9% from 94.2% last year.

Where the council has not been able to offer any of the three preferred schools, parents are promised they are being offered a place at the nearest school that has places available.

This figure is also an improvement on last year, with only 4.1% missing out compared to last year’s figure of 5.8%.

There is a similar picture in West Sussex where a total of 11,571 parents or 97.5% have been offered one of their top three preferences of schools compared to 10,867 last year.

Overall, 11,864 places have been offered compared to 11,216 last year. This year 10,528 parents received their first preference compared to10,063 last year.

But councils in the county need to find 4,060 new primary school spaces while more than a third of Brighton and Hove’s secondary schools are over capacity. Laura Dunk has had problems with the two primary schools the Khayal twins were due to be sent to.

Her daughter Ruby was been allocated St Joseph’s last year, one-and-a-half miles from her home in Kingsmere, Brighton, despite first choice St Bernadette’s being 50 yards away.

In the end, Ruby was sent to Carden Primary School and the family had to move to Carden Hill to be closer.

She said: “We didn’t want to move there, but that was the position we were in.

“We’re in a better situation now, but thanks to our efforts, not the council’s.

“It’s just so difficult with the catchment areas. Parents get the impression they just make it up as they go along.

“Your child should be sent to the school they live nearest to. If that school is full of children who live closer, then you are allocated the school second closest to you.

“I’ve spoken to people who have bought places so that they can get to a certain area by the time their kid is five.”

The issue with parents moving homes to fall within catchment areas is more pressing when it comes to secondary schools, which has left some schools bursting at the seams and others with empty classrooms.

A Brighton and Hove City Council spokesman said they have enough school places for every child in the city. However, he said they need 300 new secondary school places per year group in the coming years.

He said: “We are working hard behind the scenes in partnership with all of our secondary age schools to ensure that we have sufficient places. As part of our strategy we are supporting a proposal from the University of Brighton to create a secondary free school in the centre or east of the city.”

Despite the council’s promises, there is still a fear among parents.

Mum of two Chelsea Robinson, 23, whose three-year-old attends nursery at Carden Primary School, said: “What scares me is that even though Brooke is already at the school, I still have to apply for her to go there next year and she’s not guaranteed a place and that does worry me.”

By September, West Sussex County Council must find an additional 2,680 spaces, but senior manager for pupil compliance Richard Baker believes although it’s a huge number, the problem is nationwide.

He said: “Like a lot of places nationally, pupil numbers are rising because of migration and more people having children.

“I don’t think we’re alone in this one.

“It also comes down to houses being built and people moving into those developments.

“I mean, who could have predicted a baby boom after the Olympics? So it’s about keeping an eye on our populations.

“We know how many children are in nurseries and pre-schools, and we know the number of births but predicting anything before that four or five year period we don’t know what’s going to happen.”

He is confident they will be able to keep up with the numbers through a combination of expanding existing schools and building new ones.

In East Sussex the problem is less drastic, with 465 extra spaces needed by September and 2,115 needed by 2019.

Jessica Stubbings, from East Sussex County Council, said: “This does present challenges, but we plan well in advance to ensure we have capacity to meet demand.”