Council bosses are starting an urgent investigation into the effects of immigrant children being denied free school meals in Bradford.

There are fears that hundreds of pupils in the district go hungry because their parents cannot afford school meals or cannot get them free.

Families who come to the UK from the European Union cannot claim free school dinners until they have worked here for a year.

Bradford has had an influx of families from Eastern Europe, particularly Slovakia, since the expansion of the EU in 2004, though the numbers are not known.

A councillor has warned that hundreds of children could go hungry and Bradford Council has commissioned an urgent report on the situation.

Councillor David Ford (Green, Heaton) said he had worked with five families in his ward affected by the rule.

He said: "What is happening is that schools are paying for meals for these children out of their own budgets.

"But this is just an ad-hoc solution and the system is set up to fail these young people."

"The Green group has called on Bradford Council's executive to commission a report.

"This the situation is resulting in children going without a proper daytime meal and it is only the goodwill of some local schools digging into their own budgets that is giving them the support they need.

"If they are not getting a good breakfast or evening meal and they cannot afford a school lunch they are going to be exhausted and it will affect their learning."

The Council is producing a report to look at "options to ensure everyone receives equal entitlement irrespective of their immigration status".

Councillor Dale Smith, executive portfolio holder for education, said: "As parents, we are naturally concerned to hear of any situation which affects young children and we are seeing what we can do to ameliorate the situation. We have asked for an urgent report."

Coun Ford said: "The Eastern European population in Bradford is based in Girlington, Heaton and Manningham.

"I know of two schools- Whetley Primary and Heaton Primary - where there are something like 40 pupils. And at secondary school there are Eastern European children who go to both the Belle Vue schools but across Bradford it must be in the hundreds."

In fact, Whetley Primary has about 45 Slovakian children. Head teacher Ron Braithwaite said: "We do not have a choice with free school meals. These are the rules we are stuck with but we are not aware of any children going hungry. It does seem particularly Scrooge-like."

A Benefits Agency spokesman said: "European Union nationals are entitled to move between EU countries and are entitled to work but they cannot receive any means-tested benefit in the UK until they have worked for a year and cannot apply for free school meals."

Jim Johnson, manager of Bradford Action for Refugees, said: "A change in legislation is needed; it is appalling that children have to go to school and not get a substantial meal."

Parents in the UK can apply for free school meals if they receive income support or income-based support and household income is less than £13,910. Coun Ford said he believed most Bradford families from Eastern Europe earn less and still have to pay for school dinners.

Bradford North MP Terry Rooney said: "The problem is that if we open up the welfare state more you will get four, five or six times the number of people coming here. It is the primary responsibility of the parents to ensure they can afford to look after their family.

"If something goes wrong - like a job falls through - then it becomes a humanitarian issue and each case should be assessed on its merits."

The Council has set up a refugee and asylum seeker strategic steering group to assess the impact of the situation on services in the district.