Leicestershire's traditional July Fortnight is set to be retained following pushback from parents and councillors.

Leicestershire County Council is set to launch a new consultation on summer holidays, but these will see the early summer break – also known as the Leicestershire or July Fortnight – remain unchanged after officials "looked again" at the plans.

Last month, council bosses decided to pull the original consultation, which would have included three proposals, with the council's preferred model meaning parents and children would lose a week from the Leicestershire Fortnight and have a two-week autumn break instead of the existing one-week off.

New proposals, reduced to two, will see the first option retain the current status quo for term holidays, while the second will see an earlier return to school in August and a two-week autumn half-term in October.

Leicestershire schools usually break up for the summer earlier than the rest of the country to align with the traditional 1960s 'July Fortnight' when local factories would shut down.

Councillor Charles Pugsley, cabinet member for children and young people, said: "We recognise that the traditional early start to the summer break is valued by many people here in Leicestershire which is why we have looked again at the proposals before launching our formal consultation.

"It's important that we respect the county's traditional term-time patterns while ensuring the best educational outcomes for our children.

"We really want to know what residents, schools, staff, parents and carers think and understand what works best for them before our proposed dates are finalised."

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Labour councillor Jewel Miah told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that he welcomed the "change of heart" by council bosses over the July Fortnight.

It comes after Labour councillors claimed that local parents and teachers "overwhelmingly" wanted to keep the Leicestershire Fortnight and issued a letter to Reform chiefs, urging them to rethink the proposals.

Cllr Miah added: "It was a sensible thing to do. The weight of feeling toward any changes to the July fortnight was evident.

"I think we put that across in the last meeting, so I have no quarrels with them putting two new proposals forward, and residents should engage in the consultation to put their views forward, but I'm so glad for the people who contacted us that the proposals had been dropped.

Cllr Miah also said it was the power of social media which allowed him to "quickly" share his views with councillors and council officers.

Leicester City Council will also be running a separate consultation for city residents, both of which retain a mid-July end to the academic year but differ in the structure of the autumn term, with models similar to those of the county council.

The first proposal means the academic year starts just before the August bank holiday. It includes a two-week autumn half-term break, intended to break up the longer autumn term. As a result, the summer holiday would be slightly shorter, at around five and a half weeks.

The second proposal would see pupils returning to school after the August bank holiday and a one-week autumn half-term break. The academic year would still end in the second week of July.

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The city consultation will take place from May 5 until June 15.

Reform UK cabinet members at Leicestershire County Council are set to discuss plans to launch the consultation on April 28, with the consultation to launch in May and bosses to consider the feedback in September.