A secondary school is locked in a legal battle with a college just down the road which it claims is effectively trying to steal its image.

Cranford Community College , in High Street, Cranford, is taking Cranford College to the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court, which settles disputes over patents, copyright and trademarks.

The secondary school claims the college's similar name and branding are part of an attempt to trade off its good reputation.

But Cranford College , just 0.7 miles away in Bath Road, argues it caters for a totally different market and you cannot copyright a location.

Cranford Community College is an academy school with approximately 1,420 students aged 11 to 19. It was established in 1975 and is rated outstanding by Ofsted.

Cranford College is an independent establishment with about 500 students, all from overseas and aged 18 or above. It opened in 2010.

Aside from their similar names and locations, both colleges use a blue bird as their logo, though the former features a heron in flight while the latter has an upright dove in a darker shade.

The community college said it had submitted its claim in September last year after asking the defendant to change its name and branding to avoid any confusion.

At a hearing on Monday (February 15), Judge Richard Hacon gave directions for the claim to proceed to trial, which is scheduled to take place in July.

Headteacher Kevin Prunty said: "In view of the defendant's reluctance to respond and to make the necessary changes, Cranford Community College is bound to protect its name, reputation and branding which has been established over years, well beyond the local area and internationally.

"Cranford is reassured by the recent, and not dissimilar, court judgement in favour of Oxford University and expects the courts to remedy this matter in its favour this summer."

Cranford College CEO Ejaz Chowdary claimed that, although it believed there was no cause for confusion, it had offered to make 'significant' changes to its name and branding in a bid to prevent the case going to trial.

"We're catering for totally different markets and offering different products. We've made it clear on our website we're in no way related to Cranford Community College," he said.

"Our view is that Cranford is the name of the locality and they don't have a monopoly on that name."