Oxfordshire County Council is being threatened with legal action by parents and students over a school policy that says children can use the toilets of the gender they identify with. 

The council's Trans Inclusion Toolkit also recommends that transgender children be allowed to use changing rooms and accommodation on school trips in accordance with their chosen gender.  

It also states: "A child or young person being trans or questioning their gender identity does not constitute a safeguarding concern or something where the child's parents or carers have to be informed." 

Parents have raised concerns that the guidance puts girls at risk, something the council denies. 

Victoria Edwards, one of the parents threatening legal action against the council, said, according to the BBC: "By creating a cast of people to whom safeguarding does not apply, the local authority is leaving the door open for abusers to walk straight through into the lives of our children."

She is joined by the parent of a 13-year-old girl who wishes to remain anonymous, and a teacher. 

They have written to the council demanding that the guidance be withdrawn by January 3.  If no action is taken by this date, the group have said they will seek a judicial review. 

The action is being supported by the Safe Schools Alliance UK (SSA UK) and is being financed through crowdfunding, with over £7,000 raised so far. 

A spokesman for Oxfordshire County Council defended the guidance, saying: "While we acknowledge this is a difficult and emotive area, we are confident the revised toolkit will provide helpful guidance to schools looking to support this potentially vulnerable group of young people."