Almost a week after term started 60 Reception age children remain without a school place in Barnet.

Barnet Council is desperately trying to find places for the children who should have started school last Wednesday.

Of the 60 affected children 28 have not yet been offered a place at all.

The other 32 have been offered places but their parents turned them down.

Yesterday Barnet Council announced that it was opening a new 30-child Reception class at Colindale Primary School in Clovelly Avenue.

This class will open as soon as is possible which, according to a council spokesperson, will be “weeks not months.”

Including this new class, Barnet Council will have set up 20 new Reception classes this year to cope with London’s baby boom.

As a result, all pupils whose parents applied for a place on time have been found a school.

Councillor Richard Cornelius, leader of Barnet Council, said: “Like all London boroughs we have a comparatively mobile population.

“Most of the children who have yet to have a place confirmed are new arrivals to the borough.

“It will take a couple of weeks for the dust to settle when we will get a feel for the number of children who have moved out of the borough or taken up a school place outside of Barnet.

“Only then will we have a clear idea of the whole picture.”

If you have been affected by the shortage of school places please contact reporter Emma Innes on 07824 530110 or email einnes@london.newsquest.co.uk