Parents and governors fighting to save their village school from the axe are taking their battle to Westminster.

Members of Tong Park First School Action Committee are hoping their meeting with Education and Employment Minister Estelle Morris will result in Bradford Council's proposal to shut the Baildon school being overturned by the Government.

Accompanied by Shipley MP Chris Leslie, a delegation of seven - including action group chairman Michelle Stevenson and Tong Park chairman of governors Ray Shilling - are set to put their case to the minister in London on February 4.

Bradford Council wants to close Tong Park, which has 92 pupils and 40 children in its nursery, as part of its switch to the two-tier education system.

But committee members, who have been running a vigorous campaign since last spring, say shutting it would rip the heart out of the local community, leave many youngsters - especially those from Esholt - with much longer journeys, and result in the loss of a good school. Action committee member Julie Brannan said: "We're still confident and hopefully the minister will see we've got a very good case.

"We had an absolutely brilliant Ofsted report which wasn't taken into account, the teachers are excellent and the children are so happy there - if it closes it will be a massive blow for the community."

Mr Shilling said: "We're going to London to save Tong Park and emphasise our strong feelings about the proposal to close a very successful school.''

Mr Leslie said: "I support the principle of change to primary and secondary schools and recognise that some difficult decisions have to be made, but there are some anomalies which need further investigation and this is one of them.

"Tong Park's very much a neighbourhood school, serving a distinct community.''

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.