THE price of a primary school meal in Cambridgeshire will remain at �2 in September - the third year in a row without an increase.

Cambridgeshire Catering Services (CCS), who provide school meals, increased the price of a primary school meal in September 2009 from �1.90 to �2.

Managers have kept to their pledge to keep the price at �2 for two years but have now announced that it will be kept at �2 for another year, until at least September 2012.

In the last three years, the proportion of pupils having a school meal as opposed to bringing their own went up from 31.5 per cent to 40 per cent. This has enabled prices to stay the same again for the forthcoming school year.

However, there will be a 5p rise in meal prices at secondary schools in September. The increase - from �2.15 to �2.20 - is described as “the equivalent of an allowance against the price of a meal” because all secondary schools in Cambridgeshire offer a cafeteria service.

A total of 17,000 children in Cambridgeshire already have a school meal every day.