Four-year-old Corrie Johnson is attending a different south Bristol primary school from his big sister after a mix-up over his application for a place.

His mum Louise Higgs has to drop Corrie off at St Pius X Catholic Primary in Gatehouse Avenue, Withywood, for 8.45am, then rush to get Ellie to Fair Furlong Primary in Vowell Close 10 minutes later.

She then has to cycle a mile home to Fulford Road in Hartcliffe, before doing the same thing in reverse in the afternoon. Ms Higgs, 28, and her partner Lee Johnson, 32, urged parents to make sure they got their applications in to the city council on time this year to avoid the same difficulties as her family.

"Corrie is second on the waiting list for a reception place at Fair Furlong," she said. "I kept him at home for the first few weeks but he was getting so bored and upset. The council had offered him a place at Greenfield Primary in Novers Lane, but that was in the wrong direction for me, so when we found he could go to St Pius, we thought that would be best for now. He has settled there really well."

Corrie was in the nursery class at Fair Furlong last year and his mum filled in an application at the school for the reception class.

But the form did not reach the city council, so Corrie was not allocated the place he would have been entitled to on the basis his sister was already a pupil.

The school was oversubscribed and he did not qualify for a place because he lived too far away. Children in nursery classes do not automatically qualify for places in reception classes at the same school.

Katharine de Lisle, city council spokeswoman, said: "Families are advised to make direct applications to the admissions service, either online, or using one of the application forms available at schools."