So the row over halal meat being served at Rose Hill Primary School in Oxford has been resolved.

A compromise has been reached whereby children will be given a choice of ordinary' meat, halal meat or a vegetation meal.

But if this solution has been reached now, why wasn't it available a month ago when the argument broke out?

A lot of unnecessary turmoil in the school and in the community could have been avoided.

The only conclusion is that the school handled the issue clumsily.

No-one denies the right of Muslims to have the meat their faith demands.

But that does not mean that it has to be given to everyone else in a school or workplace.

The school should have realised that to serve halal meat to all pupils, without consulting parents, was bound to cause friction.

With victory for the parents now in sight, we hope the school can get back quickly to doing the job it should be doing - teaching children on the estate - without further distraction.

And we hope lessons have been learned for the future.

The episode should serve as a warning to all schools to tread carefully on such sensitive issues.