Croydon Council has denied claims that parents have been lying about where they live in order to get into one of the borough's most popular schools.

Education chiefs had been passed a list of parents of four pupils at Woodside Infant School, amid rumours that many claimed their child lived in the catchment area to secure a place.

But following an investigation, the council said it is satisfied that everyone given a place at the school next September had acted properly.

The school is oversubscribed this year, and mum Sandy Goncalves was left fuming after her four-year-old daughter Shanay was refused a place.

She was instead told she would have to trek to Ashburton Infants – which is further away from her Ashburton Road home – despite Shanay's younger sister Destiny being offered a place at Woodside's nursery.

Miss Goncalves, 27, said she could face a nightmare from September.

She said: "It's been really stressful. I get really tired if I get stressed, I can't function and I get really bad headaches."

The council's education chief, Tim Pollard, said that when allegations were made, they were investigated fully.

He stated: "The council's policy is clear – the schools publish their admissions criteria, and they become the system by which admissions are judged.

"If somebody tries to cheat or defraud the system, the council will come down heavily on them.

"I understand why parents might do this on a human level, but we've got to operate in a fair manner and we take these allegations very seriously."

Each school application, he says, is checked against the electoral register to try to ensure parents are not lying.

In cases where addresses are different, the education department demands to see proof of a change of address.