If you’re a parent you will know all too well the joys of the school run, but take pity on the mother of two who’s been forced to travel 100 miles to take her kids to school as all the schools in her area are reportedly full.

After being evicted from from her home of eight years in Woking and being unable to find any rented accommodation in Surrey, single mum Michelle Thomas was forced to move last summer with her two children, Jacob, four and Thomas, eight.

She eventually found a shared-ownership house in Corby, Northamptonshire – two hours from their previous home in Woking, Surrey, only to discover that there were no spaces available for her sons in any of the 16 primary schools around the town.

She was then offered a place in a school five miles away, but as there with no after-school club, Michelle would have had to find a new job.

Then one space became available at a chosen school for one of her sons – but not the other – leading her to lodge an appeal with The Diocese of Peterborough – the governing body of her two preferred schools.

Whilst awaiting a decision Michelle is driving her sons Jacob and Thomas back to their previous school in Woking, meaning the family drives two hours there each week to stay with friends.

Michelle said: ‘We have to leave about 6.30am to get back to Woking for about 8.30 and drive home at the weekend – it’s very difficult.

After moving to Corby Michelle was told that in spite of many new houses being built in he area, the council has no plans to build any more schools and that the reason there was no room in the year three class is because it was a ‘baby boom’ year.

In the second hour of today’s programme, I was joined as per usual on a Tuesday by Margaret Mills who took us back to 14th century Thaxted, when the town was the centre for cutlery. It seems that at that time the Lord of the Manor granted very favourable terms for those engaged in that trade which allowed the town to become the second wealthiest town in Essex.

If you missed what Margaret told me, you can listen again here: –

I hope to see you again next week,
Scott