A blind girl's mother has criticised a disability pressure group for backing proposals to close her daughter's school.

Saltaire mum Carol Hodson says the British Council of Disabled People have got it wrong in supporting plans to shut Temple Bank School where her seven-year-old Elspeth is a pupil.

The special school in Daisy Hill Lane is threatened with the axe due to falling rolls and a general move to educate challenged children in mainstream schools.

"Parents want their children to have a normal an education as possible, but for some children that is just not possible. They need schools like Temple Bank to give their child the best chance," she said.

Mrs Hodson, who is co-ordinator of the Parents Action Group fighting the closure, dismissed words from Ruth Malkin of the Bradford branch of the BCODP umbrella. She had pointed to low academic achievement in special schools and firmly supported the mainstream option for children with disabilities.

But Mrs Hodson, whose family moved from York so blind-since-birth Elspeth could attend Temple Bank, said exam results were not the be-all-and-end-all. "Most parents would be happy if their child can become independent, let alone pass exams," she said.

Many Temple Bank pupils do 'placements' in mainstream schools, but the 50 or so on the roll are simply not able to cope with daily attendance.

The school gives them a chance to keep a 'foot in both camps' by enabling youngsters to mix with able-bodied peers and then return to specialist, intensive teaching programmes.

Parents of children at the school were committed to their battle to keep it open, said Mrs Hodgson.

A consultation exercise carried out by Bradford Council on the school's future recommends three options, including closure.

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