Hundreds more families may be caught up in a legal row over entry to a flagship school in Scotland's top-performing education authority.

Yesterday, The Herald revealed that parents from a new housing development on the outskirts of Glasgow are taking legal action after East Renfrewshire Council said their homes were not in the catchment area.

Now it has emerged that families from a total of 600 new homes built in the vicinity are also barred entry to St Ninian's High School in Eastwood - the country's top-performing Catholic secondary.

It came as the leaders of two warring local authorities agreed to meet in an effort to resolve the matter, offering some hope to worried parents.

However, the leader of East Renfrewshire Council warned that it may not be easy to reach a solution given the pressure of numbers on St Ninian's.

The problem has been caused by the explosion of new housing in both local authority areas and the large influx of Catholic families lured by the success of St Ninian's, which regularly tops school league tables.

The affected developments - Parklands Meadow, Bell Acres, Park Manor, Thistle Bank, Mearns Grove and Mearns Wynd - have all been built in an area on the south side of Glasgow that borders East Renfrewshire.

Glasgow City Council says that, although families pay their council tax to Glasgow, all the homes are in the wider catchment area for St Ninian's agreed in 1996 at the time of local government re-organisation and are, therefore, the responsibility of East Renfrewshire.

However, East Renfrewshire argues the original catchment was not a delineated area, but was a list of streets within the area that does not include any new developments, and that children from these homes should therefore be taught in Glasgow schools.

The result is that many families with young children who have moved into the area expecting their children to progress to St Ninian's when they leave primary school are now being told this is not possible.

The situation is made more complex by the fact that some parents in the contested catchment area send their children to feeder primaries for St Ninian's run by East Renfrewshire, such as St Cadoc's and Our Lady of the Missions, and also expect guaranteed entry.

However, under East Renfrewshire's catchment policy, parents in this position will have to submit a second placing request to get into St Ninian's - which is already full because of new housing developments in their area.

Robert Bowie, a resident from Parklands Meadow, who is pursuing a judicial review to resolve the case on behalf of his children, Blaire, 11, and Ciaran, 6, said: "This affects my children, but there are hundreds of other families out there from new housing developments who will also be affected and may not yet be aware of the situation."

Steven Purcell, leader of Glasgow City Council, and Jim Fletcher, leader of East Renfrewshire Council, both said the priority should be the needs of the families involved.

Last night, Mr Purcell said: "I have asked my officials to speak to their colleagues at East Renfrewshire again, and I'll then meet Mr Fletcher with the aim of finding a solution to this issue.

"The bottom line here is that these young people need to begin their secondary education as soon as possible."

Jim Fletcher, leader of East Renfrewshire Council, added: "Both of us agree that the needs of children and families have to come first and we both want to find a solution, although I would have to say that with the pressure of numbers on St Ninian's, that may not be easy."

"Nevertheless, it is vitally important that we work together as neighbouring councils which already enjoy a good relationship to identify a solution to remove doubt and uncertainty in the minds of parents and children."