Protesters fight school closure

Pupils and parents joined the protest in Mirfield

About 200 people have marched through a West Yorkshire town backed by their MP to protest against plans to close one of the town's schools.

Kirklees Council is planning to close Castle Hall School in Mirfield as part of a re-organisation of secondary education in the area.

The council said its plan would see £200m being invested in new-style learning centres.

Shahid Malik MP said the closure would "rip the heart out of the community".

The council has previously said the proposals would help raise educational standards, but the protesters disagree.

I think people here think it would be like ripping the heart out of the community Shahid Malik MP

Education officials want to close Castle Hall and move the pupils to Mirfield Free Grammar School

On the Castle Hall website the welcome note includes the statement: "For the last two years Castle Hall School has been the highest achieving comprehensive school in North Kirklees (5+ A*-C including English and Maths).

"Last year the school won the SSAT High Performing School Award in recognition of its excellent results."

Dewsbury MP Shaid Malik joined Saturday's protest and said action needed to be taken to prevent the school's closure.

"Here we have a school that is not just a good school, it's the best performing comprehensive in North Kirklees and people cannot understand why you would want to close something like this down if you want to improve educational attainment - which is what we want.

"I think people here think it would be like ripping the heart out of the community."

When the proposals were announced earlier this year Councillor Jim Dodds, who is responsible for education in the Kirklees district, said: "The proposed programme is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to provide brighter and better opportunities.

"It is one that we must grasp to invest in a programme to improve education, raise standards and attainment, provide better opportunities and learning skills for thousands of children in the area for generations to come."