A school admissions "lottery" will produce a generation of paranoid youngsters, experts have warned.

Children's services worker Lisa Williams said the introduction of chance as the final deciding measure for who gets places at oversubscribed schools in Brighton and Hove would convince pupils who missed out they were "losers".

Mrs Williams, of Eldridge Avenue, Hove, said: "There is a real danger children could go to school thinking they are inferior because they have not been awarded a place at a more popular school.

"That could have a very damaging impact."

Mrs Williams, who has been backed by a leading psychologist, said the problem was particularly likely to affect children such as her son Stan Hayward- Williams, 10, who were involved in the campaign against the new policy and who understood what it meant for them.

West Dene Juniors pupil Stan was pictured in The Argus last Thursday, taking part in protests outside Brighton Town Hall.

It is likely he and his classmates will be allocated places at Hove Park or Blatchington Mill schools via the lottery system.

This week, however, life returned to normal for Stan, who was able to concentrate on his homework instead of a political battle. Mrs Williams said: "The children seem to have been forgotten among all this.

"The media focus has been on the parents fighting for access to schools, not the children it will actually affect.

"He came to me after the vote and said, does this mean my name will come out of a machine?' "He thought it would be like the lottery on the television - that he and his friends would have their names on balls.

"It is a terrible idea for them to come to terms with."

Mrs Williams said anyone who worked with children would know the importance of allowing them to feel they were making choices.

She said: "Instead, it has become a competition between friends about who gets places at schools considered better."

Psychologists have agreed the transition between primary and secondary school is a key time for children and the uncertainty can create anxiety.

Peter Sharp, of the British Psychological Society, said: "The period of uncertainty for children will be made longer by this and that cannot be a good thing. Children moving up to schools without their peer groups and friends have a new set of relationships to build.

"For some, that will be fun and a good thing.

"For others it will be miserable.

"It will be a challenge that could affect them at school and beyond."

The "lottery" is part of the new catchments system for school admissions.