Devastated parents have pleaded with politicians, Richmond Council and supermarket giants Lidl to reach an agreement over a primary school for east Twickenham.

MARCH: Deer Park School site a "rotten idea", meeting hears

Plans for a new school at Ryde House, Twickenham Road, fell through in January, leaving desperate parents scrambling around for places for their children.

JANUARY: Primary school place scramble in Twickenham "black hole"

A letter, signed by 20 people, has been sent to councillors, Achieving for Children (AfC), Twickenham MP Tania Mathias, the Education Funding Agency and Lidl asking for help.

The German supermarket chain purchased the building earmarked for a primary school and the Bellevue Place Education Trust (BPET) plan to open a school in North Sheen instead.

Madeleine Nadin, who lived in Ailsa Avenue, said her family moved to Claygate after her four-year-old daughter Isabelle failed to secure a place at any nearby primary school.

She said: "We just fell out of love with the area really - we were always looking to move anyway but this sped it up by a good year or two.

"It was a terrible shock, I have to say, we had six months of stress and tears and trying to challenge people.

"You just think, I've paid council tax, I've been a good member of the community so why is my child the unlucky child?"

Isabelle was eventually offered a place at St Stephens on August 20, the day before contracts were exchanged for the family's move.

Other parents were left facing the prospect of their children attending Deer Park School, currently based in Parkshot, Richmond, before moving permanently to London House in Lower Mortlake Road.

Katie Patton, who lives in Ailsa Avenue, called for a deal to be reached with Lidl over using Ryde House for a primary school.

She said: "We didn't have a plan B and my daughter, Georgina, has ended up at Deer Park, where 11 of the 13 reception children are from east Twickenham and St Margarets.

"I want the council to either do a deal on the site or move on and find something else - we need a school but can't keep resting on Ryde House.

"Not having a school destroys communities because people who aren't in local schools get scattered."

East Twickenham parent Sally Prickett added: "Everybody knows about the schools problem here and next year's parents are looking to apply now but there is still no school."

The council has no powers to open a school and can only assist the EFA with finding a suitable site for a school.

Councillor Paul Hodgins, council cabinet member for education, said: "I share the frustration of parents that the process has taken longer than we wanted but Ryde House is still the best option.

"There is progress being made but, unfortunately, it is behind-the-scenes discussions between Lidl and the EFA."

A spokesman for AfC, a joint enterprise between Kingston and Richmond councils, said it retains the "long-held aim of establishing a two-form entry primary school in east Twickenham".

They added: "AfC and the council have been working very closely with the EFA, whose role it is to secure sites for free schools, to ensure that any development of Ryde House by its owner, Lidl, will include a primary school."

Twickenham MP Tania Mathias said: "I hope that Lidl appreciates the community’s need and can enhance the area by accommodating a school.

"Longer term, in the constituency there is a problem with a lack of sites that are available for the council to offer to new schools and I have raised this with the Government, asking that they look at solutions for areas like ours."