BURNHAM parents have voiced their support for a new school in the village as they fork out hundreds of pounds in travel costs.

Bucks Council has been urged by parents and a working group from Burnham Parish Council to re-open the E-ACT Academy in Opendale Road to serve the village’s children.

The working group says Burnham is the only location in Buckinghamshire with a grammar school but with no non-selective school. They also say 70 per cent of pupils who don’t pass the 11+ have to go to Maidenhead or other areas miles away, causing parents to fork out up to £1,100 in travel costs.

Cllr Julie Ward, deputy cabinet for education and skills, previously said the council’s data shows there are already enough school places in Burnham and parents “choose” to send their children to other schools, such as in Maidenhead.

READ MORE: Burnham parents urged to fight for new secondary school

But villagers say they felt “ignored” despite sending data and evidence to support the re-opening.

One parent told the Local Democracy Reporting Service they had to spend £60 every half term to send their children to a Maidenhead school as there were no schools in Burnham that offered German, which is what her son wanted to study.

READ MORE: Burnham MP Joy Morrissey is "keen" to see village school plans

She said: “I see the number of students getting off the train in Maidenhead and there’s a good 100 to 150 children getting off the train that I see, and that’s just one train – there are two trains.”

Meanwhile, another parent said he was “unsure” which secondary school to send his child, who is currently attending primary school, if they can’t get into the grammar school.

Parents were told to write to council leader Martin Tett and Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi to demand a new secondary school.