A row has erupted after a group of children was refused places at a school attended by their brothers and sisters.

Their parents are furious the youngsters cannot go to Steyning Grammar School in September and say it will have an adverse effect on their education and well-being.

They are threatening to go to the local government ombudsman and are planning to take legal advice.

Paul Brownjohn, whose son Alec has been refused a place despite having an elder brother already at the school, said: "Our children have not come to terms with the fact they won't be joining their siblings.

"We feel incredibly distressed. The children feel like they have done something wrong because they aren't allowed to go there."

His wife, Fran Brownjohn, said: "When you have siblings who are very close you expect they will go to the same school. When they don't, it causes anxiety and distress."

All the families affected live out of the catchment area, either in Shoreham or to the north of Steyning, but because they already have older children studying at the school they believed their siblings would not have a problem getting in when they filled in the preference forms in October.

About 25 parents received letters at Easter informing them they had been unsuccessful but would have a right of appeal.

But only nine were successful. Julie Phillips, who has one daughter at Steyning, said her younger daughter was beside herself because she was the only one out of 42 from her primary school who was refused.

Gary Payne, who already has a daughter at the school but whose son has been turned down, said: "We feel as though we have not had a fair crack at the appeals procedure because certain information was different from what we were told by the school."

Headteacher Peter Senior said there had been a disagreement with West Sussex County Council over the number of children the school could accept.

He said the admissions limit was normally 235, although it tended to accept 240.

But this year the numbers in the catchment area exceeded 235 so the limit was increased to 242 with a few extra allowed for appeals.

Mr Senior said it meant either large classes or creating an extra tutor group, taking the number to nine but this was not economical unless the intake was increased to 260 for this year only.

The council refused and the limit was kept at 242, which meant children from outside the area failed.

Mr Senior said: "We feel really sorry for those parents who wanted their children to start here and have not been offered a place, particularly those who have siblings in the school."

Jane Robinson, education department spokeswoman for the council, said: "As far as we can we will try to place siblings together but the catchment area children take priority."