Council chiefs look set to press ahead with controversial plans to close five Shropshire primary schools, it was announced today.

A Shropshire school facing the axe under a shake-up of county education today said it was finalising plans to federate with a nearby school in a last- ditch attempt to save it from closure.

Shropshire councillors today rejected moves to defer a decision to close The Wakeman secondary school in Shrewsbury when they met at Shirehall.

Petitions containing thousands of signatures calling for five schools in Shropshire to be saved from the axe have prompted a special debate at the county’s Shirehall next week.

CAMPAIGNERS AT Shrewsbury’s Wakeman School have today vowed to fight until the bitter end to save it from closure.

Headteachers, school governors and parents today voiced their anger at proposals to push ahead with plans to close schools in Shropshire – despite months of hard fought campaigns and demonstrations.

CAMPAIGNERS FROM an under-threat Shropshire primary school made themselves heard with a noisy demonstration at the Shirehall today in a last-ditch bid to force a rethink on plans to close it.

A shuttle bus which helps people get to remote parts of south Shropshire has been axed due to funding cuts.

FURIOUS CAMPAIGNERS at an under-threat Shropshire school today called on education bosses to admit mistakes had been made in their plans to close it.

A show of solidarity saw more than 100 people link arms around a closure-threatened Shropshire primary school – as its headteacher hit out at claims it had too many staff.

SHROPSHIRE EDUCATION chiefs have received more than 700 responses from the public over controversial plans to close nine county schools – amid claims they are struggling to cope with the backlash.

Campaigners fighting to save an under-threat Shropshire primary school today accused council chiefs of ignoring a £121,000 independent report the authority commissioned to look at an education in the county.

Stiperstones CE School, a “little school with the big heart” is threatened with closure by Shropshire Council along with with eight others. A strong campaign is under way to keep it open. Dave Morris finds out more.

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.

TOO MANY primary schools in Shropshire offer just a “satisfactory” education and are failing to improve, school inspectors say.

An under-threat Shropshire primary school could be turned into a Church of England academy in a bid to preserve its future, a county MP has claimed.

Parents, governors and staff at an under-threat Shropshire school are demanding council chiefs relocate an up-coming consultation meeting to see the children in their learning environment.

Letter: Our MP, Philip Dunne, has spent a lot of time on local media backing up Shropshire Council line on falling school rolls and the fact that some small schools may have to close because of surplus places.

MORE THAN 70 adults and children at an under threat Shropshire primary school struggled through boggy fields today in a massive show of unity to form a human chain to spell out “SOS” on a county hillside.

Parents, pupils and teachers at closure-threatened Stiperstones School have been explaining why they think a song penned by a former pupil could help to keep it open.

A Shropshire MP has issued a rallying call to rural communities to get behind campaigns to save their under-threat primary schools from closure.

Parents and teachers today vowed “The battle starts here” as consultation got under way on plans to axe nine Shropshire schools.

Youngsters at a Shropshire primary school which is facing the axe today gave up part of their half-term holiday to do a publicity shoot and create posters for a campaign to save it.

A Shropshire MP has incurred the wrath of parents and staff at a county school threatened with the axe over comments he made claiming at some point a school may become “too small” to offer a good education.

Youngsters at the closure-threatened Stiperstones Primary School have recorded a song in a bid to help save it from the axe.

Residents spoke of their shock and disappointment today that nine Shropshire schools face the axe – just three years after campaigns were held to try to stop a number of other closures.

The fight has begun to save nine Shropshire schools from closure with angry parents organising petitions and planning protests.

Ludlow MP Philip Dunne will meet the headteachers and parents from five threatened schools in his constituency.

Most schools in Shropshire are back to normal after the recent snowfall.

Snow and freezing conditions have forced the scrapping of a string events across Shropshire and Mid Wales today as the region began to buckle under Britain’s Big Freeze.