PARENTS are quitting the town and some couples choosing to live elsewhere because of a secondary schools crisis.

Next year is the 30th anniversary of the closure of Westerham's Churchill Secondary School, which was the only senior school in the town.

Since then, mums and dads have been forced to send their children to schools in Oxted, Edenbridge, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells.

National offer day, when parents will find out which secondary school their children have got, is on March 1.

Pressure on places has increased since Oxted School, a comprehensive, changed its admission boundaries, drastically reducing spaces available for Westerham pupils.

A campaign is under way for a new free school in Edenbridge and, in Sevenoaks, there are moves for a Christian free school and a grammar school.

Elizabeth Barrack, of Farley Croft, who has a daughter at Churchill Primary School, in Rysted Lane, said the lack of schools close by was something every parent considered before choosing to move to the town.

"It's been like this for a really long time, it is the only real downfall for the town and I know it puts some people off," she said.

Fellow Churchill School parent Rebecca Rosner agreed. She said: "When you're a parent, your child's education becomes paramount and for some people it really is the most important thing.

"Parents are definitely prepared to move out of the area entirely if it means they are close to the school they want."

The grammar school annexe proposed for Sevenoaks – an entirely new one would be against the law – sparked the most controversy.

One mother, speaking anonymously, said she was very unhappy about the potential grammar school.

She said: "What we need are better comprehensive schools, like Knole Academy, which will not discriminate among the children."

However, Louisa Wake of Buckham Thorns Road said she would be delighted with a grammar school close by.

She said: "We're keeping our fingers crossed for a grammar school as we've been looking at the ones in Tunbridge Wells and it is unfortunately quite a long bus ride."