WYRE Forest will adopt a set-up of primary and secondary schools from 2007, it was confirmed this week.

An independent committee, made up of school governors, church leaders, councillors and council officers, ratified on Monday night the decision to scrap the three-tier system of first, middle and high schools.

Only one objection had to be received against Worcestershire County Council's controversial plans for the group - the Schools Organisation Committee - to call a vote.

The plans mean all but four first schools will become primaries, using nearby middle school buildings where possible.

The five district high schools will remain but demolition and refurbishment are on the cards.

The shake-up was called after officers voiced fears that the number of pupils in Wyre Forest was falling.

The change to two-tier brings Wyre Forest into line with the rest of the UK.

Committee chairman, June Longmuir, told the Shuttle/Times & News: "I am absolutely delighted that it was a unanimous decision.

"I think it is one of the best things that could possibly happen to Wyre Forest."

Miss Longmuir said £50 million was in place to make the first schools primaries while the council was still waiting to find out whether the Government would make £110 million available for the high schools. King Charles I High was a priority, with a move to a new site most likely, she said.

"Very few" representations were made for or against the shake-up, Miss Longmuir added, with opposition to the closure of Kidderminster's Lea Street and Stone first schools taking up the weight of SOC's postbag.

The first schools, along with St Barnabas in Kidderminster and Areley Common in Stourport, will not be reused as primaries.

Lea Street First campaigners and county councillors, Mike and Fran Oborski, said in a statement that SOC's decision would prove to be a "catastrophe".

They said many parents would "discover that they cannot get the school of their choice".

Chairman of the Parents 4 St Barnabas campaign, Nigel Knowles, said he was "outraged".

He added: "No-one listened to our case for keeping our school."