Up to one in five infants in some parts of England are missing out on their top choice of primary school.

A continuing squeeze on places, particularly at primary level is fuelled in part by a rising birth rate in recent years.

In Wirral, 89.1% four and five-year-olds secured a place at their first preference of primary school for September.

Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), said: "Since 2011, the powers of local authorities in planning school places have been significantly reduced without an alternative system to take their place.

"We have a Balkanised system, with authorities, academies and central government taking decisions in isolation."

With the massive increase in pupil numbers and overstretched budgets, now is not the time for inefficiency and conflict, he claimed.

The Local Government Association (LGA) said its analysis of official figures indicates that by September next year, two in five local authorities in England - 66 out of 152 - will have more children ready to start school than there are places.

It claimed that by 2017/18 this will increase to more than half (85 areas) and go up to three in five dealing with more pupils than places (94 areas) in 2018/19.

Findings from the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) show that three-quarters of parents felt they had a genuine choice.

Household income and local factors were the most important influences, according to 1,005 parents of children aged five to 18 in England who were questioned in December 2014 and January 2015.