A headteacher is fighting to give all Catholic children the right to attend his school after a council proposal to stop transport funding.

Tony Billings, of All Hallows Catholic College, Brooklands Avenue – which is celebrating a brilliant Ofsted inspection – fears abolition of subsidised transport for church school students may stop poorer families in Poynton and Wilmslow from attending a faith high school.

Children who attend denominational secondary schools between two and 15 miles of their home are currently entitled to subsidised transport, paid annually or in instalments.

But in an effort to save almost £1m, Cheshire East may raise fares from £299 a year to £385 in September and could scrap the subsidy entirely in September 2012, leaving parents to face a £1,000 annual bill.

Mr Billings said: "All Hallows is back to where it was, being an outstanding and oversubscribed school, popular with its pupils and families.

"Now transport is being withdrawn, stopping some of the very children the school was founded for from being able to come to the school at a reasonable cost."

He added: "We are an inclusive, welcoming school for all denominations, but we have to provide for the people the school was originally founded for."

Mr Billings warned that the loss of Catholic children travelling into Macclesfield will lead to even more empty seats in the town’s schools.

He said: "There aren’t enough children in Macclesfield to stock four schools.

"We will end up in this crazy situation where students in Poynton and Wilmslow won’t be able to get into the local high schools because they will be over-subscribed.

"By that time we will be full up with first-choices and they will end up going somewhere else."

John McCann, assistant director of education for the Diocese of Shrewsbury, added: "We can foresee over-subscription in some neighbourhood schools, requiring Catholic children being bussed away from where they live to the nearest non-denominational school, even being driven past their preferred faith school whose places will have already been filled."

Fintan Bradley, head of strategy, planning and performance for children and families services, said: "We welcome the views of the headteacher of All Hallows High School and his comments will be considered along with all other responses we have received during the consultation process. A decision on this is due by July."