CHILDREN at a primary school in Thornbury are not being offered hot meals at lunchtime due to staff shortages at the company which provides them.

Parents of children at Crossways Primary School have spoken of their concerns after lunch meal provider Integra stopped providing hot food in September.

Integra is the trading arm of South Gloucestershire Council, which said recruitment issues were to blame.

A spokesperson for the council said: "We, like other catering companies and hospitality businesses, are experiencing long-term recruitment issues for catering staff, which has impacted on the service we are able to provide to primary schools in Thornbury.

"We are working hard to restore a hot meals service as soon as possible and are in contact with the affected schools about this.

"We also have interviews scheduled for this week as we work hard to fill the vacancies that will help resolve this situation.

"In the meantime, sandwiches are being provided as part of a lunch service and we are still maintaining nutritional standards and providing a balanced meal."

But parents have argued that children being offered sandwiches as an alternative to a hot lunch is not sufficient - especially for children who rely on a school meal for their only hot meal of the day.

One parent, who asked not to be named, has children in Year 1 and Year 5 at Crossways.

She said hot meals are not likely to be offered until the last week of November and that instead children are offered a choice of ham, cheese or tuna sandwich with some fruit and a snack item.

"I don't think it is acceptable for children not to be offered a hot alternative with the colder weather now here," she said.

Mum Natalie Symes posted on Facebook saying: "I don't think that Integra not having enough staff is an excuse.

"Why are the hot meals not being sent in?

"What happened to meals being cooked on the premises? There are lunch supervisors. Surely they could cook jacket potatoes for everyone.

"The kitchen is still there isn't it?"

Carrie Rees posted to say she was 'very concerned' for children who would normally only have a hot meal at school.

But Jenna Lee Spill argued that SGC was trying to resolve the issue.

She said: "The adverts are out there and they are doing interviews.

"They are doing everything they can to try ensure hot meals are continuing.

"As a parent I would ensure if my child didn't get a hot meal at school that they would get one at home, that's our jobs as parents."

Crossways head Jo Geoghegan said: “We are aware of the current difficulties being faced by our school meals provider.

“We understand that they are heavily short staffed across the county and that they are in the process of recruiting staff in order to rectify the situation as quickly as possible.

“For some children this is their only hot meal of the day and therefore we have and will continue to hold them to account where they fail to meet the service level agreement.

“It is a frustrating situation for all involved and we hope that it will be resolved quickly."