Hot meals could soon be back on the menu for thousands of school children.

Potential contractors have been asked to provide a four-year plan which outlines how a hot meals service could be introduced at primary schools without the need to open school kitchens.

The Argus reported in October last year that West Sussex County Council was considering the reintroduction of hot food by 2008.

Meals would be prepared at one location and ferried to schools to be reheated.

East Sussex still provides hot school meals but West Sussex scrapped them seven years ago to save £500,000 a year, sparking an outcry from parents.

They were replaced by free lunchbox meals for some children, distributed by council contractors Sodexho.

It raised fears that pupils were bringing in too much junk food and rising obesity and a television campaign by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has forced a nationwide re-think on school nutrition.

The county's existing school meal contracts expire on July 31 and councillors are being asked to find a replacement service.

Up to 18 secondary schools and 249 primary schools would be covered by the new contract.

A council spokesman said: "Currently the primary school meals service costs £2.2 million a year.

"A Government grant of approximately £1.7 million is available to the local authority over a three-year period and will be invested in the development of the new meals service.

"We won't have further details until the new school meals contractor has been appointed and the Government has confirmed the new nutritional standards."

The council is due to choose the new contractor in May.