Protest over school walk

More than 50 children and parents today took part in a walk through a Shropshire village school in a protest over safety concerns.

Pupils on bikes, children in prams and other youngsters rode, walked and were pushed along what their parents say are too-narrow pavements in St Martins near Oswestry.

The protest was part of a campaign against proposals by Shropshire County Council to create an all-through school for children from the age of 3-16 in St Martins.

The plans would see Ifton Heath Primary School closed and the children relocated to the Rhyn Park Secondary School site.

But many parents said the idea would see the primary school sacrificed to save the secondary school.

Mr Gary Smith, a governor at Ifton School, said that the council had deferred a decision on the all-through school to look at the idea in more detail.

He said: "But we have had none of that detail from the council. We are still waiting for architects' plans and more detailed studies.

"Ifton Heath has sound numbers and is financially sound and yet they want to close it and rely on our pupils to prop up a secondary school with 320 students."

One of the parents who helped organise the march, Mrs Gill Williams, said the traffic flow from the centre of St Martins to Rhyn Park was totally different.

She said: "There are heavy lorries and big tractors constantly going along the road. The pavements are just too narrow, you can't even get a double buggy along them.

"If this goes ahead they are expecting 500 children a day to walk back and to along a totally dangerous road and there will be an accident," she warned.