FREE Press readers have voted in their hundreds to back Buckinghamshire's grammar schools and say "no thanks" to comprehensive education.

A total of 1,270 voted in our telephone and internet poll this week, with the votes going four-to-one in favour of keeping grammar schools.

The news has been welcomed by the local education authority where councillors are seeing the result as confirmation that the status quo should remain.

Marion Clayton, Buckinghamshire County Council's cabinet member for schools, described the high vote as "excellent news".

"Results are so good, so why change things?" she said.

Under the grammar school system the county had some of the best exam marks in the country.

Meanwhile the county's upper schools are campaigning for extra money because, they say, they need more to teach children with such a wide range of abilities.

Cllr Clayton added: "I know the upper schools think they have problems, but it is the overall results that are excellent. And we will continue to improve."

But Malcolm Horne, of the anti-grammar school pressure group Bucks Parents for Comprehensive Education, told the Free Press he does not believe our phone poll should be interpreted as the wider public wanting to retain the county's grammar schools, and he vowed they will fight on.

Free Press editor Steve Cohen said: "From what I understand I think this is a fair reflection of the feelings of Bucks people. We accept that phone lines are not scientific and may not provide a definitive answer, but I think this is an excellent indication of how our readers feel."