More than 20 families have lost school places after being caught giving false statements to get their children into Edinburgh's most popular schools.

There were 13 catchment frauds at high schools and 11 at primaries as the city council stepped up its clampdown on catchment fraud.

A total of 24 families were caught out, four times that of last year when there were six rejected requests.

James Gillespie's High in Marchmont, which is already struggling to meet demand, was top of the list with seven places being refused.

The council's fraud team carried out 1500 checks, including all potential S1 places, at three of the city's most popular high schools.

Those who were caught out have had their offer of places withdrawn, while other families dropped their requests once they discovered they were being investigated.

In several cases, parents were also found to be fraudulently claiming council tax benefits and were forced to repay money.

In one instance, a family living in a neighbouring local authority area tried to get their child into an Edinburgh primary school, while another claimed they lived at an address four miles from their targeted primary.

Parents were also found to have made up false leases and others claimed to live at properties that were being rented to students.

Councillor Paul Godzik, convener of education, children and families, said: "We know this is an issue that concerns many parents and we take it very seriously.

"We warn parents every year that we are actively looking into catchment fraud and if we believe there is a possibility that fraud is being committed we will investigate.

"If we discover this to be the case we will withdraw the school place.

"By working with the council's fraud team we are able to access a greater range of information, including credit checks, and this has allowed us to identify instances of fraud.

"All our schools provide a great education and I would urge parents to visit their local schools to see for themselves the fantastic learning environments rather than trying to commit fraud."

When registering for a school place for the first time, parents need to provide a council tax demand notice and recent utility bill.

If someone is moving house they must provide proof of purchase and their tenancy agreement. If they are moving to a different Edinburgh address they will also need to provide proof of sale or termination of lease.

When pupils move from primary to secondary school they are allocated a place based on the current address information held by their school.

Anyone who believes a parent has given false information to register for a school place can anonymously contact the school placing team on 0131 469 3033 or email school.placements@edinburgh.gov.uk.