Parents have been left furious after receiving a letter instructing them to help their four-year-olds choose a gender before they start primary school.

Brighton and Hove City Council sent a letter to hundreds of families telling them which school their child would attend in September but asked them to respond with which gender their child preferred.

Along with the main text in the letter, there was also a note next to the tickbox for male/female explaining that the national recording system only gives two options for gender but to help their child choose a gender they most identified with.

Brighton and Hove City Council sent a letter to hundreds of families telling them which primary school their child would attend and asked parents to record which gender their child most 'identified with' (file picture)

It read: 'We recognise that not all children and young people identify with the gender they were assigned at birth or may identify as a gender other than male or female, however the current systems (set nationally) only record gender as male or female.

'Please support your child to choose the gender they most identify with. Or if they have another gender identity please leave this blank and discuss with your child's school.'

Parents have criticised the move claiming children should be allowed to 'enjoy their innocence'.

They also described it as a 'dangerous approach' since four-year-olds do not yet have an adult view of the world or fully understand gender roles.

One mother said: 'Children do not have access to an adult view of the world – they don't fully understand permanence, social structures, what is possible and what is not possible.

'Four-year-olds do not generally have fixed views and often don't fully understand that their sex, colour or even species is fixed.

'Treating children as though they are adults is a dangerous approach from a safeguarding point of view. They are not adults – let them enjoy the innocence and creativity of their childhood.'

Tory MP Andrew Bridgen also criticised the note, telling The Sun: 'Schools should be teaching kids to read and write, not prompting them to consider gender swaps.'

Schools should be teaching kids to read and write, not prompting them to consider gender swaps Tory MP Andrew Bridgen

Brighton and Hove City Council's lead member for equalities, Councillor Emma Daniel, said the change to the form was a response to families' and schools requests to be more inclusive.

She said: 'Our pupil registration form asks for a range of information from parents and carers for children and young people of all ages who are entering a new school community.

'Parents and carers are asked to state their child's gender as male or female. For the vast majority of families this is very straightforward.

'We have inserted the additional text about gender identity in response to calls from families, young people and schools to show an inclusive approach to gender.

'There are increasing numbers of children and young people nationally identifying as trans. Many trans people nationally report having been bullied when they were at school.

'By acknowledging the range of gender identities in our school communities we are helping ensure schools are safe spaces for everyone.'

The controversy comes just three months after the council sent a 'profoundly confusing' gender survey to pupils at Blatchington Mill School, in Hove, with 25 options to choose from.

As well as traditional options of 'girl' and 'boy', children aged 13 to 18 were also invited to select from a list that included 'genderqueer', 'tri-gender', 'gender fluid' and 'intersex'.

Brighton and Hove City Council's (pictured) lead member for equalities, Councillor Emma Daniel, said the change to the form was a response to families' and local primary schools requests to be more inclusive

That national survey was linked from the website of the Children's Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, and was forwarded to some schools by local councils.

But the question asking children to define their gender was criticised by the Christian Institute as 'totally misleading' and 'profoundly confusing' for girls and boys.

Spokesman Simon Calvert said at the time: 'We must not intrude on childhood by deliberately confusing schoolchildren about what makes a boy a boy or a girl a girl just to satisfy adult political agendas.

'We must protect children from being made to feel that passing phases of confused feeling about themselves, which many go through, must be turned into life-changing moral and political decisions.'

It later emerged that the survey had been withdrawn. A spokesman at Ms Longfield's office said there had been a 'clerical error' and the survey was only a draft.

The survey will now be redrafted with the question asking children to define their gender removed.

Brighton has also previously come under fire for proposing to ban titles such as Mr, Mrs, Miss and Ms in case they offend the transgender community.

In 2012, councillors discussed the possibility of removing the words from official forms and paperwork after complaints that they forced people to 'choose between genders'.

However, the proposal drew criticism from many with some branding it 'political correctness gone too far' and 'ludicrous'.