CAMPAIGNERS have lost a legal fight to save a village primary school from closure.

A parent legally challenged Bury Council's decision to close Affetside Village Primary School.

Lawyers acting for the parent claimed the local authority wrongly delegated the closure decision to a sub-committee.

But judges have refused to allow the challenge to be heard in the High Court on time grounds.

Dawn Robinson-Walsh, chairman of the governors, said: "We are now in the position of seeing the closure of a small, successful school.

"Children are being scattered to schools throughout the borough and across the border to Bolton because most do not wish to go to the alternative school offered by the education authority.

"A number of parents are having to appeal for school places for their children, which is extremely stressful for all concerned. Staff, too, are having to hunt for jobs. The school community has been destroyed."

Bury Council announced plans last year to close the 123-year-old school, which has 26 pupils, due to falling numbers. The independent Bury Schools Organisation Committee voted for closure in July.

Previously, a High Court Judge ruled that the committee did not act illegally when voting to close the school.

Mrs Robinson-Walsh said the final court decision was especially difficult to accept because the legal ruling was based on timing, rather than the legality of the decision.

Campaigners have challenged the decision to close the school on a number of grounds. They have also disputed Department for Skills and Education statistics which claim the school is not in a rural area.

They claimed that the school is in a rural area and should have been given special treatment as Government guidelines say there should be a presumption against closing a rural school.

Headteacher Sue Porter, who has been at the school for more than 10 years, said: "We have been left with a very empty feeling. It's all very sad, but we will carry on for the children until the doors are closed.

"We have tried everything possible to maintain a village community school, but now there's nothing else we can do."

Staff at the school do not know whether they will be re-deployed in other schools.

A Bury Council spokesman said: "We now simply want to get on and ensure that the children get the best possible education."

The school will close in July.