Stiperstones parents plan human chain protest

Parents, pupils and teachers at an under-threat Shropshire primary school are to link hands and form a ring around their school in a protest to show the strength of feeling against it being axed.

Between 50 and 100 people are expected to turn out for the human chain event at Stiperstones CE School, near Shrewsbury, on March 31.

Faye Moore, a mother-of-three who is also a member of the school''s steering group, said they were determined to show Shropshire Council leaders they would not go down without a fight.

The ring around the school is the latest innovative campaign from the school which has already come up with a special song released on YouTube, spelt out SOS on a hillside and given out free hugs to shoppers in a bid to raise awareness.

The school is one of nine across the county which the authority is proposing to close in a bid to tackle empty classroom spaces and pupil funding issues.

Mrs Moore said the event at the school would begin at about 3pm.

She said: "We will be forming a human chain around the school and the pre-school to raise the profile of our campaign. This will include pupils, staff, parents, pre-school children and community members. We are hoping to get between 50 and 100 people."

Mrs Moore, an ex-pupil of the school herself, said they had been inspired to organise the event following the big human chain around the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital's maternity ward at the weekend.

About 300 people turned out for that event on Sunday afternoon to show the strength of feeling against plans by Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust to reorganise health services in the county.

Mrs Moore said: "We saw the idea after they had done it. We were actually going to go along ourselves but we had a steering group meeting so we couldn't and thought we would organise our own."