Angry parents claim children will have to face dangerous roads travelling to a new school if Bradford Council's education shake-up goes ahead as planned.

Members of the Save Woodend Action Group (SWAG) have written to Tony Blair and Shipley MP Chris Leslie saying they fear the Council's plan to close Woodend Middle and Eccleshill Upper School in favour of a new secondary school for 1,400 pupils at Thorn Garth, Thackley, will lead to increases in the number of traffic accidents involving children.

SWAG secretary Kath Quinn, said: "One of the main concerns we now have is for the health and safety of the children. It's a very dangerous position to put a school and the area already has a high incidence of accidents involving children.

"The only way to make travelling to school safer for youngsters would be to opt for another site.

"Our hope is that the Council would revert back to the original proposals in the review for two new schools."

A Bradford Council traffic spokesman said: "The access, transport and road safety implications of all the proposed changes in the schools reorganisation will be fully assessed and considered when planning applications are submitted."

In their letter the group condemns as "perverse" a decision by the Department for Education and Employment to back Bradford Council's plans for a single school instead of two new schools as intended under original shake-up proposals.

It also questions the new school's ability to cope with the number of pupils from Woodend and Eccleshill. It will have an eight-form entry compared to the first proposal's 11 spread across two schools.

The group says that parents' concerns have been brushed aside and describe the DfEE's claim that the move to Thorn Garth will enhance parental choice and community harmony as "laughable".

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