More than 1,000 signatures have been collected by campaigners fighting to save a small village primary school in Shropshire from closure.

Members of the Onny Action Group say they have hundreds of signatures due to be collected on petition forms distributed around Ludlow and to relatives of parents at Onny Primary School in Onibury, near Craven Arms.

It comes after a team of seven volunteers collected 816 signatures in the space of six hours on the streets of Ludlow on Tuesday.

Now they are calling for one last effort to help bolster their total with a final signature-collecting run in Ludlow on Wednesday.

Sarah Walker-Evans, a member of the action group, said she had been left “overwhelmed” by the support of the general public.

Onny is one of eight primary schools across the county threatened with closure by summer 2012 as part of Shropshire Council’s plans to tackle falling pupil numbers.

The Wakeman secondary in Shrewsbury will also close in July 2013 under the proposals.

An initial six-week public consultation period ends on April 8, and Shropshire Council officers are visiting every school to meet staff, governors and parents as part of the process.

Miss Walker-Evans said: “We got more than 800 signatures on Tuesday and we are hoping to get even more next week. We have already reached our target of 1,000 which is excellent, and the more we get the better.

“There are still lots of petitions we need to collect in shops and as it is market day in Ludlow we are hoping to get a few more names too – we may not do as well as on Tuesday but we will try our best. A lot of people have also distributed petitions around their families.

“The support is overwhelming – people can see cuts in all walks of life but it really feels like schools in Shropshire, especially small rural ones, are taking a hammering at the moment.

“Ninety-nine per cent of people have been so supportive and seem so up for helping us in our hour of need.”