THE first day back at a Wyre Forest school saw several policemen standing outside the gates after problems broke out between parents and residents.

One mum, who did not wish to be named, described the scene of children returning to Chaddesley Corbett Endowed First School on Tuesday as "absolute chaos".

She claimed that whereas parents used to be able to park in the car park of the Talbot pub and take their children into school, that had been closed off with a chain link fence saying "customers only" - so parents had to vie for a space on the road.

"The parents have to park on the road for the nursery on the side of the school as well - so it's a big nightmare," she said.

The mum, who lives in Chaddesley Corbett, said a rumour was also circulating that residents were planning to park their cars on the road to prevent parents from doing so.

"Whereas before you could take your children actually into school after parking, now they've told us we have to leave the children in the playground with teachers and go home," she said.

"Quite a lot of people are actually considering taking their children out of the school because of the chaos.

"A lot of people don't want to just drop their children off in the playground with a teacher but watch them walk into the classroom to see they are safe."

The school's headteacher, Tim Ireson, confirmed there had been "problems" but said he was working hard to resolve them with the help of police and staff in the highways and education departments of Worcestershire County Council.

"The school is working closely with the community to find solutions to the problems," he said.

"We are in consultation with road safety school travel plan organisers in order to find some positive solutions to the difficulties of having a lot of cars coming into a small space."

He said initiatives being considered included a walking bus, where designated adults would walk the children to school wearing yellow tabards. Parents are also being encouraged to car-share and some are already doing so, he said.

When asked whether he believed the problem would increase when the school became two-tier, he said: "At the moment, the people responsible for the future destiny of the school - the governing body, trustees and LEA - are working together to find solutions for the future needs of the school."

Wyre Forest East police beat manager, PC Andy McGill, added: "Chaddesley Corbett is a small rural school and has experienced parking problems in the past."

Adding police were monitoring the situation with the school and road safety officials, he said: "We hope that with the assistance of villagers a compromise can be reached until a permanent solution can be found."

The landlord of the Talbot pub declined to comment.