Trouble-hit East Brighton College of Media Arts is less than half full, despite taking giant steps forward.

Councillors were told the school is "trapped by its reputation."

The Schools Admissions and Procedures Scrutiny Panel, set up to consider how the system can be improved, was told the college, known as Comart, has only 425 pupils when it has a capacity of 900.

Its Year 7 intake was just 64 when the college, in Wilson Avenue, could have taken 150.

Chairman of governors Derek Bown said: "These figures have very serious implications."

Mr Bown said the system used by Brighton and Hove City Council of having first, second and third preferences for schools did not favour Comart but he added: "I doubt if there is a perfect system."

He said Comart was stuck between the duty it had towards the local community and the need to compete for pupils.

Mr Bown said Comart was also a victim of its reputation - "It has gone through troubled times."

Formerly Marina High, it was relaunched as a Fresh Start school but had to be put into special measures.

Now under head Dr Jill Clough, it has gone out of special measures and is making good progress.

Mr Bown said Whitehawk, which the college served, also did not have a good reputation in the city.

He added: "This has deterred some parents from exercising their preference for Comart."

Some parents had even failed to turn up at the college because they were worried about going to Whitehawk.

Mr Bown added: "There is a powerful mythology about both Whitehawk and Comart."

Parents were also put off by exam results in league tables which showed Comart below most other schools.

But he said: "If you take progress as an indicator, Comart is doing extremely well. The school is providing a good education and the right education for its pupils."

Mr Bown said the number of pupils would rise during the year as Comart took pupils from other schools."

He added: "There is a tendency for pupils with problems to be told 'You are either permanently excluded or you go to Comart'."

This factor, added to the high number of pupils in special needs, made the task of the college hard.

Mr Bown said there would be enormous changes in the curriculum in the next ten or 15 years. Comart was already an arts and media college and would find a way of providing an education attractive to parents all over the city, he said.

The Rev Stephen Terry, a member of the panel, said: "This school has had a hard time and is making good progress."

Karen Wicker, head of Stanford Infants School which is popular with parents, said with the present system it was impossible to say whether children should be accepted unless they lived very near.

She added: "Inevitably there is anxiety and stress. Some parents make repeated visits because it is such anguish."

Some parents from London called her and asked which streets they should move to in Brighton to ensure children got into the school.

The panel will interview other witnesses before preparing a report for the council.