AN action group has been set up by parents to fight closure plans for a Bromsgrove special school.

More than 40 parents were at a meeting last week to come up with a plan aimed at stopping the closure of Rigby Hall in Aston Fields - the Advertiser/Messenger's adopted charity for this year.

A committee was set up and was due to meet again last night (Tuesday) to work on the detailed strategy.

"It was a very successful meeting of the parents," said new action group chairman Gary Crellin, whose seven-year-old daughter Jessica is one of the 101 pupils.

"Our aim is to keep the school open. Rigby Hall has been serving the community well for many years and we want to know how the alternatives can be any better. This is not just a special school issue - it is a schooling issue."

Mr Crellin said the parents were angry that a consultation document produced by Worcestershire County Council had described the school as "surplus to requirements."

The council is carrying out consultation on a Government plan for more widespread integration of special needs children into mainstream schools. It was backed by the council's cabinet in December and will involve the closure of special schools, including Rigby Hall, which would shut in 2007.

Mr Crellin said a consultation meeting arranged by the council was set to take place at the school on Thursday, February 12, and the procedure ends on April 30.

Under the closure plans, the pupils would be sent to special units attached to mainstream schools and paid for by PFI funding.

One parent, Patricia Peckham, said they were prepared to fight to keep the school open because they felt their children would not fit in at other schools.

"They will be kept separate in the classrooms but they will still have to mix in the playground," she said. "This school has been wonderful for my son Kingsley and I don't want him moved."

Mrs Peckham is cirulating petitions around Bromsgrove, Droitwich and other local areas to gain support for the parents' fight.

County councillor June Longmuir (Con - Bromsgrove South) is the cabinet member with responsibility for education and lifelong learning and also a governor of Rigby Hall.

"I realise I'm in the middle here but I am not saying what the decision should be. This is a period of consultation and the council will be happy to listen to the views of the parents.

"I want them to have their say and to put forward ideas that will help us look at the long term plan for the future of special education

"Rigby Hall is a very good school and I can understand why the parents don't want their children moved."

She said the issue would be discussed at a governors' meeting next week.