PUPILS could be turned away from schools which take on academy powers, Oxfordshire county councillors have warned the Government.

Melinda Tilley, the council’s Conservative cabinet member for education and her opposition counterparts have written to Education Secretary Michael Gove setting out their concerns.

They said academies could turn children away even if they have spare places, forcing the council to pay for buses to take pupils to other schools.

Academies were introduced in 2000 and are state-funded but outside of council control.

The letter, signed by Mrs Tilley, Labour education spokesman Gill Sanders, the Liberal Democrats’ education spokesman John Howson and Green Party group leader David Williams says that the situation they fear has almost happened at one un-named Oxfordshire academy.

Department for Education spokesman Sam Eversden said academies must consult the council and nearby schools if they want to cut places.