THE price of school meals in Cheshire is to rise by 10p to £1.75 a day from September.

This is largely due to demands for a healthier diet and new national nutritional standards.

In a letter of explanation to headteachers, Nigel Argyle, Head of Catering for County Business Services (CBS), says some recent changes to the school meals service were 'caused by issues beyond our control', such as the national media focus on healthier eating.

'Although school meals in Cheshire have always been healthy, the new Government drive for healthier eating means that certain foods cannot appear on school menus, and many parents have asked for better quality products to be made available.

'CBS Catering are happy to embrace the wishes of parents, but increased quality comes at a price,' he said.

Falling school rolls and the requirements of new national guidelines also had to be taken into account when reviewing the price of a meal.

To keep the charge to a minimum, CBS Catering is subsidising every meal by 3p from the standards fund, a facility available to the service for the next two years.

For cash cafeteria kitchens, new price lists will follow.