A STUDENT born and bred in Stoke-on-Trent has been told he can't get a grant to stay at university – because he is not English enough.

Larry Parkes was born at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire to an English father and a French mother.

But, because his parents never married, the former pupil of St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Primary School and St John Fisher Catholic College, has been told he cannot have a British passport.

However, the 19-year-old has been told he must submit a British passport when applying for a £3,000 grant and a £2,000 loan to cover his £5,000-a-year place at Aberystwyth University, where he is studying astro-physics.

Now Larry, who started his course while his application was still being processed, faces the prospect of being dumped out of university with no hope of completing the qualifications needed to stand a chance of landing his dream job working for NASA.

Larry, who does hold a French passport, said: "I think it's ridiculous.

"I've been living in Stoke-on-Trent all my life, I was born here, I can't understand why I can't get a grant like everyone else.

"I have settled in well at university. But because my student finance has not come through the university has blocked my internet access. I can't check my e-mails and our homework is assigned over e-mail. "A friend who takes the same classes as me has been letting me see the e-mails, but I can't access the university intranet to carry out research.

"If I have to leave university I have no idea what I will do."

Away from university, Larry – who considers himself half English and half French – now lives in Lightwood, but he spent his childhood growing up in Hanley. He fears his brother Erwan, aged 17, will face the same struggle.

Larry's mother, Cathy Bourasseau, a purchasing supervisor for Fenton-based houseware distributors RKW, aged 40, said: "We feel let down. Larry has lived all his life in the UK and has excelled in his education here in Stoke-on-Trent.

"His teachers said he was Cambridge material, but we couldn't afford the fees.

"We applied for finance last May, but it has taken until February to decide Larry is not English enough. He is doing well in his university education, but now he will have to leave after two terms."

Cathy moved to Stoke-on-Trent in September, 1991, to be with her partner of the time. She became pregnant in February, 1992 and was granted the right to live in the UK because her son had an English father. She says she has not seen Larry's father since December, 1993.

Aberystwyth University and Student Finance England declined to comment on an individual case. The family say they have been told in telephone conversations they must submit a British passport with Larry's application. The Home Office has also declined to comment on an individual, but a letter sent to Larry, refusing his passport application, says: "Your father's birth in England has no effect upon your nationality. A claim can only be taken through the father when the parents are married. Therefore you have no claim to British citizenship."

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