Freshly cooked school dinners look set to become a thing of the past in 93 Oxfordshire schools.

Councillors are set to approve plans to replace the traditional school canteen with precooked frozen dinners. The dinners, similar to prepacked dinners bought from supermarkets, would be bought from a supplier and heated on school premises.

Traditional school kitchens around the county have been facing the axe for more than a year because they are considered too expensive.

Before finalising the new arrangements, councillors and headteachers will visit a school in Coventry which is already serving meals cooked from frozen.

Tory education spokesman Douglas Spencer, a former chef, said: "I shall be talking to kids to find out what they think and finding out whether they are able to give sufficient choices such as a vegetarian option."

If the plan goes ahead, 30 schools in Oxfordshire would switch to the frozen meals service in September. If these are successful, another 63 could follow.

A previous plan to converting kitchens to serveries handing out hot food cooked at other schools would have cost 120 jobs. The number of job losses could be fewer under the frozen meals scheme.

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