An education officer has asked for a review of how school places are allocated, after upholding objections from concerned parents who said pupils in rural areas are given unfair preference.

The Office of the Schools Adjudicator said North Yorkshire County Council's arrangements for giving children in the rural areas priority over youngsters living in the town were unfair.

The adjudicator, Dr Elizabeth Passmore, said the arrangements already made for 2009 should stay in place, but that the council should review the selection process before determining places at Harrogate's three community secondary schools for 2010.

Dr Passmore said: "The Local Authority says that giving priority to rural applicants has been in place since the 1970s.

"I am not persuaded that because something has been done in a particular way for a long time this means it must stay."

A group of 58 parents, many living close to Harrogate Grammar School, argued a child living outside the town is guaranteed a place at the highest preference school listed by their parents, while youngsters who live in Harrogate, even those living close to their preferred school, have a lower chance of gaining admission.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire County Council's children's and young people's service, said the council is considering this adjudication in detail because it has "far-reaching implications".

The spokesman said: "The adjudicator, in her determination, recognises how difficult it is to achieve admission arrangements which will be acceptable to parents in both the town and rural areas across Harrogate."

There are three community schools in Harrogate – Harrogate Grammar School, Harrogate High School and Rossett School.

Dr Passmore said Harrogate Grammar School and Rossett School are highly oversubscribed, as are the two voluntary aided schools (St Aidan's and St John Fisher) which draw pupils from a wider area than the community schools.

For this year's new starters, both the Grammar School and Rossett School filled the amount of places available, with scores of students missing out on their first choice.

Parent Tracey Terry lives in Beckwith Road, just under a mile away from Harrogate Grammar School and Rossett School.

Mrs Terry hopes her nine-year-old son Aaron will go to the Grammar School in September 2010, but despite moving from Bilton to ensure her child would get a place at her first choice of secondary school, she is still just outside the catchment area for automatic admission.

She said: "It just seems ridiculous that we are only a ten minute walk from the school, but don't get priority.