A HEREFORDSHIRE Council blunder has resulted in almost 1,000 county parents waiting on school placement decisions mistakenly being sent an email telling them their child has been offered a secondary school place.

A computer error led to around 900 emails were sent yesterday to parents incorrectly informing them their child had been offered a place from September.

It is unclear whether the offers were for the parent's preferred choice of school.

The council has apologised and asked parents to ignore the email, saying formal offers will be sent out next month.

Emails are expected to be sent out to affected parents later this morning clarifying the error. 

"Due to a computer error, parents waiting for an offer at a local secondary school may have received an email today offering a place," said the council on its Facebook page.

"Please note that this may not be accurate and has been sent in error whilst testing the school admissions system.

"We apologise for any inconvenience caused and ask that this e-mail is ignored; formal offers will be sent in March 2016."