In 1999, West Sussex County Council's education committee (now defunct) voted to sell off the playing fields at Ifield First School.

This decision was legally right but morally wrong.

Many people - especially parents, grandparents, teachers and headteachers - have made this clear over the years, but county hall's old political untouchables have always had a hearing problem on the subject.

Now new Government legislation has come into force restricting the sale of school playing fields.

Local authorities, especially West Sussex County Council, will only be able to sell our playing fields as "a last resort".

Too little too late for hundreds of children in Ifield who are now re-located to a school with no playing fields at all.

-Richard W. Symonds, SCRAM Campaign for Hot School Meals and Playing Fields, Ifield, Crawley