Headteachers have rejected a fresh bid to raid millions from school budgets to cover spiralling costs of supporting children with special needs.

Instead they want to shield Cumbria's 300-plus schools with measures that will save more than £19m by 2019 - with one leading headteacher stating "enough is enough".

A bid to claw back more than £8m from county schools to plug a growing deficit in Cumbria's high needs budget was opposed last month.

County council officers were told to find other solutions.

The high needs budget pays for higher levels of support for the most vulnerable children. National reforms since 2014 have led to unprecedented levels of demand on it.

Alternative proposals to cut the deficit were tabled last month but a £4.3m gap remains.

Suggestions include reducing the amount paid to schools to support existing pupils with special needs and scrapping a staff voluntary redundancy scheme.

Jonathan Johnson, principal of West Lakes Academy, Egremont, said: "There are a lot of proposals that do not impact on school budgets but you only have to look at the table [of them] to see that we're making £19.1m of decisions that will affect young people. Enough is enough."

John Barrett, assistant of the county council's children's services, yesterday (WED) called for a "one-off payment" that would see money earmarked for schools diverted to wipe out the multi-million pound deficit.

Heads said it would be "catastrophic" and want the deficit to be tackled over a longer period of time to lessen the impact on schools.

The Schools Forum - a panel of headteachers and local education leaders who shape how central government funds for schooling are spent in Cumbria - met in Carlisle yesterday (WED).

Members want a five-year debt recovery plan drawn up to bring the high needs budget back into the black, sparking concerns that it may be rejected by the Department for Education.

Cumbria County Council's cabinet is due to decide on the forum's recommendations in December.