The Church of England has attacked plans to merge schools in Herefordshire and the way in which the shock news was announced.

Herefordshire Council is planning to close 35 primary schools and to reopen 17 and to merge four secondary schools into two new ones, in a bid to reduce costs.

"We recognise, as a major contributor to education in Herefordshire, that painful decisions need to be made, although we have to ask whether the massive scale of the planned cuts is possible," said Dr Ian Terry, Director of Education for the Diocese of Hereford. "Sixteen of the 35 affected primary schools are either Church-controlled or aided and we value our partnership with the local authority. We are disappointed therefore, that we were not invited to share in the planning of the changes."

The cuts were announced on Friday, although school heads were informed abruptly with no warning of the scale of what the education authority was planning. Herefordshire is the third lowest funded county in the country.

"We are dealing with a similar situation with our schools in the adjoining county of Shropshire but there, heads and governors were involved at a much earlier stage," added Dr Terry. "Heads were visibly distressed, some shocked at the news about their own school while others were taken aback by the large scale of the operation. I think it is important to maintain respect for the people involved and this has not been handled as well as it could have been in Herefordshire."

The Church of England has pledged to actively support all school and local communities as they come to terms with the news. The Diocese is not planning to oppose all the planned cuts but wants those involved, teachers, governors, parents and pupils, to be able to discuss calmly what could be very disruptive to the lives of some rural communities.

"What we want everyone to keep at the heart of this, is that every child matters and every teacher and every community," said Ian. "We will be working with the council to ensure continued provision of Church Schools within Herefordshire and that, what those schools of the future will deliver, is the best for all our children."