LONDON: - A mother was set to appear in a British court yesterday to face charges of lying about her address in order to gain a place for her son at a popular and leading infant school.

Mrs Mrinal Patel, from London, is thought to be the first parent prosecuted in this way under the Fraud Act, reported the BBC yesterday.

Mrs Patel, 41, applied for a place for her five-year-old son Rhys at Pinner Park First School in Harrow, north London.

She was charged with fraud by false representation and was set to appear at Harrow Magistrates' Court yesterday after council officers found that the address she used did not match council tax records.

Mrs Patel has denied fraud and said she made the application in good faith.

She told reporters she was using her mother's address following difficulties with her husband, but had now moved back into the family home, according to a report by The Press Association on Thursday.

She added that she felt the charge was disproportionate and a waste of taxpayers' money.

Harrow Council said it was prosecuting her reluctantly, but that the admissions system had to be seen to be fair to all parents.

'Our first duty is to ensure that the admissions system is scrupulously fair and seen to be so,' Mr David Ashton, the leader of Harrow Council, was quoted as saying by the BBC.

Pinner Park First School received a total of 411 applications for 90 available places.

Harrow Council said the school allocates places to children living nearby up to a maximum distance of 1.1km.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.