Parents were given 48 hours to respond to a council letter or face losing their child's chosen school place.

Brighton and Hove City Council sent letters to hundreds of parents of prospective senior school pupils on December 23, demanding proof of their home address be returned by 3pm today.

But because of delays in the post over the Christmas and New Year period, some of the letters did not arrive until Wednesday.

Parents jammed the council's switchboard as they were given just two days to meet the deadline. Many gave up trying to get through and went to Brighton and Hove City Council's offices to complain in person.

They were worried that their children would not be allowed to go to the senior schools of their choice in September if the council did not have the supporting information, a council tax bill, utility bill, driving licence or tenancy agreement.

Mother-of-three Sharon Paton, tried to phone the council to ask for more time but could not get through to the admissions section.

Her 11-year-old son Ryan, is a pupil at West Hove Junior School and she wants him to join his older brother Jason, at Blatchington Mill School, Hove, in September.

The council letter told her that because the school was oversubscribed she would have to prove both boys lived at the same address.

Signed by education director David Hawker, it said: "I regret that if proof is not received by 3pm on January 10, we will not be able to take account of the address given on your preference form. This may result in your child not be offered a place at the school."

Mrs Paton, of Clarendon Road, Hove, said: "I could not get through to the admissions office because the line was constantly engaged.

"I went down to the council's offices in Grand Avenue and the receptionist told me they had been inundated with complaints.

"People had been going in all morning to complain about the short notice and there was another father trying to find out more when I was there.

"The receptionist said she had been trying to get admissions to empty their voicebank so that it could take more calls. She said it held 50 messages and was full."

The council introduced a new system for dealing with admissions after parents complained last year that children, who lived outside a school's catchment area, were being given places.

In some cases, it was alleged parents had given false addresses to try to ensure their applications were successful.

As a result, the council has introduced a standard proof of identity letter which now goes out to all applicants.

A spokeswoman said parents were usually given more than a week to respond but other local authorities restricted the time to 48 hours to reduce the chance of forged documents being sent in.

She said: "Parents were given advanced warning of this in this year's schools admission booklet which was distributed in September."