Battle to save community school

There are 93 children at the school

Parents and pupils are fighting to save a school earmarked for closure.

Almost 100 children will be moved if plans to build sports pitches on the site of Waldorf School in Wandsworth, south-west London, go ahead.

Wandsworth Council said the lease expires in April but agreed to extend it until the end of the school year.

Campaigners at the school, which is a registered charity, say the development on Tooting Bec Common will also destroy areas of natural grass and woodland.

Parents said many schools nearby were already full and they did not have time to set up a new one.

The school said that while it supported the provision of sports facilities for young people it felt the proposed development was "inappropriate".

A council spokesman explained that a 15-year lease was agreed in 1993 on the understanding that, during this period, the school would seek an alternative site.

"In order to assist children at the school we are willing to allow the school to remain on the site until the end of the summer term, so that pupils can complete the school year", he said.