Councillors and an MP have demanded an "unfair" schools admission policy be changed.

Many parents in east Brighton are failing to get their children into the secondary schools they want and politicians say the situation must be rectified.

Kemptown MP Des Turner said the unfair admissions system meant parents in east Brighton could not exercise "any meaningful choice whatsoever" in the secondary education of their child.

Parents in this part of the city have always had difficulty but the situation worsened this year when the admission policy was changed with the introduction of a new "safe walking distance" criterion.

A letter from finance councillor Simon Burgess to Brighton and Hove City Council education director David Hawker said: "I strongly believe the new policy has been shown to be inequitable - it excludes a large chunk of the city from having any choice while other parts now have considerable choice as they are close to a number of schools.

"Parents in Queen's Park, East Brighton, Hanover and Elm Grove have moved from a position of pot luck, as to whether they get a place for their child at the school of their choice, to one of no choice at all."

A motion by Green councillors Bill Randall and Keith Taylor said some children had failed to get into any of the three schools they chose and the schools admission team had told their parents they would be given "what's left over" when the popular schools were full.

They call for immediate steps to be taken to rectify the situation, such as opening new classes in preferred schools.

A petition demanding the same with 736 signatures will be presented by Coun Randall at the council's children, families and schools committee.

The committee will discuss setting up a working group that will review the admission criteria and process.

It will consist of cross-party councillors, a secondary school headteacher, a secondary school governor and support from council officers.

Pat Hawkes, chairwoman of the children, families and schools committee, said: "Secondary school admissions remain a concern for a significant number of parents in the city. We need to look into this matter to ensure that all families are given a fair choice for their children's education.

"Hopefully this new working group can investigate decent alternatives that will satisfy more parents."

The location of secondary schools in Brighton and Hove is historic and since the towns have merged to become a city, the patterns of schools no longer fits the geographic spread of the city.

The current system was introduced for the first time this year.

The previous scheme, whereby preference areas were drawn around schools after applications had been made, had brought many complaints from parents.

Some streets were included in the catchment area for a specific school one year and then excluded the next. Other problems arose when re-allocating school children when none of their expressed preferences were met.

The committee was meeting at Brighton Town Hall today at 5pm.