PARENTS at schools in the Ledbury and Bromyard areas have come out fighting at Herefordshire Council proposals to merge 40 schools across the county.

Emergency meetings have been called at the Queen Elizabeth Humanities College in Bromyard, Eastnor Parochial and Pencombe CE, three of the schools facing extinction should the controversial plans go ahead.

The Queen Elizabeth is facing an amalgamation with Leominster's Minster College on the Minster site, leaving Bromyard without a high school and pupils facing a daily round trip of more than 20 miles by bus.

The school hosts its meeting at 7.30pm on Thursday (January 17), and headteacher Adrian Long said anyone connected with the school or wider community was welcome to attend.

"I'm happy for everyone from the community to come and take part in a dialogue and express their opinions, because ultimately they will be the ones that will be most affected," he said.

Parents at Eastnor have already formed their own Save Eastnor Primary' action group to fight proposals to amalgamate the school with Bosbury CE, on the Bosbury site The group's next meeting takes place in Eastnor Castle at 7.30pm tomorrow (Wednesday), and anyone concerned about the school's future is welcome to attend.

The fate of Pencombe CE, which would be merged into the Bredenbury primary site, will be discussed during a public meeting in Pencombe Village Hall on Saturday (January 19) at 6.30pm.