A BAN on lodgings grants means that student Rachael Nicholson cannot go to college to study for a National Diploma Course in Animal Care.

Rachael, 16, of Douglas Road, Bacup, has been offered a place at Myerscough College, Hutton, starting in September.

But she can't accept because Lancashire County Council has stopped lodgings grants.

Her angry dad has written a protest letter to Rossendale and Darwen MP Janet Anderson, to local councillors and the chief education officer.

Maurice Nicholson said: "I am very annoyed. Due to the distance involved Rachael was hoping to live-in. Now because lodgings grants have been stopped she will not be able to go on the course. She had set her heart on it.''

Mr Nicholson has worked out that daily travelling costs using public transport between Bacup and Hutton to which Rachael would be entitled would not be very much different to accommodation charges. But it would mean her getting up at 5.30am and walking into Bacup to catch the 6.26am bus to Accrington. She would walk from the bus station to the railway station to catch the 7.30 service to Preston. A college bus would then take her to Hutton.

Mr Nicholson has worked out the weekly fares at something in excess of £35.

The return journey would mean she would not arrive home until well after 6pm, leaving little time for home-based work and no time for rest and relaxation.

"That is totally unacceptable for someone who is only 16,'' said Mr Nicholson. He is classified as a carer for his wife and on income support so he has no money to pay for Rachael's lodgings.

Rachael, studying for examinations at Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School, wants eventually to be a veterinary nurse and is seeking sponsorship from vets. But it is difficult to find a sponsor for the total cost of the residency fees.

Myerscough College is the only one in Lancashire which provides the course.

"My daughter is being penalised for wanting to go to a distant college on a course unavailable locally,'' said her father.

He added: "This is totally unfair. She is very upset and so am I.''

A spokesman at County Hall said a decision to stop the discretionary grants had reluctantly been made because of the low education budget allocated to them and the constraints placed by the last government.

See: OPINION

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.