COUNCILLORS have ignored the pleas of hundreds of concerned parents and voted unanimously to close down an "award-winning" primary school.

Members of Worcestershire County Council's ruling Tory cabinet agreed yesterday to move forward with plans to close Lickhill Primary School in Stourport, despite strong local opposition.

The council's two-pronged scheme involves the expansion of another school, Stourport Primary, which will move to a new state-of-the-art site to accommodate teachers and pupils from Lickhill. The Conservatives insist this offers the best long-term future for Stourport's children - as well as potentially saving the council more than £2 million.

But parents and friends of the school are far from convinced, and in the latest public consultation 535 people objected to the plan, with only 53 in support.

"The Stourport community has spoken - they do not want this to happen," Lickhill school governor Phil Gates told the cabinet. "I urge you to listen to them and give our children the education they deserve at this award-winning school. If this proposal is allowed, and is as catastrophic for education in Stourport as we think it will be, it's the councillors around this table who will be remembered for it."

The members sympathised with the parents but insisted the opportunity to create a modern two-form entry school on the site of the former Lickhill Middle School was too good to be missed.

"We believe this is a real opportunity for Stourport and feel this is the right thing to do," said the cabinet member for children's services, Councillor Liz Eyre, recommending the closure be approved. "It's the best value for the taxpayer and the best outcome for the children in the long term."

She was supported by the cabinet member in charge of property services, Councillor Stephen Clee, who said many of the children at Lickhill are currently being taught in mobile classrooms. The school is set to close in August, 2011.