CAMPAIGNERS battling to save Affetside Primary School have vowed to continue their fight after education bosses decided to close it.

Members of Bury's Schools Organisation Committee met last night to hear arguments for and against the measure, aimed at reducing surplus school places in the borough, and voted unanimously in favour of closure.

The meeting was the latest round in a six month battle by the Save Affetside School action group, which was hoping to force a review of the closure by Government adjudicators.

Around 20 parents, governors and friends of the school attended, to present and support a case for it to remain open for the next four years.

They argued that Affetside could fill more places by promoting itself, in particular to parents whose children would have attended Longsight School in Harwood.

Defending their plan to close the Watling Street school, local education authority representatives stressed that low pupil numbers made the costs of educating each pupil too high to maintain.

The time had come to tackle Bury's abundance of surplus places, they said, and the situation had been allowed to continue for too long.

Following a short recess, committee members emerged to cast their group votes unanimously in favour of the closure. No reasons for the decision were given by committee members.

Speaking after the two and a half hour meeting, parent governor Ms Dawn Robinson-Walsh said: "We shall be consulting our lawyers in the morning, and we will be seriously considering legal action. There are two options we could pursue, the first being a judicial review and the second being with the local government ombudsman."