A SCHOOL packed lunch service will be available to all West Sussex pupils.

The county council axed hot school meals and replaced them with packed lunches, but the service has only been available to pupils who qualify for free meals.

Now all other pupils at county-run schools will be able to pay to use the service.

Education chiefs decided in January to drop hot school meals to save £500,000 a year, putting 500 staff out of work.

Catering firm Gardner Merchant won the contract from Castle View Services and supplies the lunchboxes.

Now the firm has written to schools asking for volunteers to take part in a pilot scheme for the extended service, which should be running by January.

Richard Bunker, West Sussex director of education, has circulated a letter to parents apologising for the inconvenience caused by the cold meal service only being available to some children.

Contractors have also employ-ed an officer to visit primary schools and talk to teachers and pupils about what fillings they want in their sandwiches.

A council spokeswoman said: "The council aimed to get the free school meals service up and running at the beginning of term, which we have achieved.

"Now we are talking to schools to set up a service whereby

children who require packed lunches can get them on a paid-for basis."

A spokeswoman for Gardner Merchant said: "It has always been part of our contract to offer meals that parents can buy as well as free school meals.

"But we are writing to schools to ask them to take part in a pilot scheme to test which system is the best one to administer, and it should be up and running at the start of next term."

Meanwhile a legal battle continues over the laid-off school meals staff.

The case will decide who meets the estimated £300,000 cost of their redundancy payments.

The council has applied to the High Court for a ruling that Castle View should make the payments because it employed the workers.

The county council also claims Castle View is responsible for the contracts of managers employed in the meals service, and

not the council or Gardner Merchant.

Castle View claims the council and its former contractors are responsible for the redundancy payments.

A date for the hearing has not yet been fixed.

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