TORY Shadow Education Secretary Tim Yeo has agreed to write to Worcestershire County Council in support of parents fighting a controversial shake-up of the special school system.

Mr Yeo's letter - which was welcomed by parents - will stop short of telling the council's senior Conservative members they should shelve the proposals.

But Mr Yeo will stress the Tory policy is that parents should continue to have the choice of sending their children to special schools.

Mr Yeo, a former chief executive of SCOPE, will state the "pendulum has swung too far away" from special schools.

He agreed to write the letter after meeting a five-person delegation from Thornton House and Rigby Hall School at Westminster yesterday.

Campaigner Mary Dhonau said she hoped Mr Yeo's support would help to influence the council's decision on the plans to reduce the number of schools and facilities devoted to children with learning needs, due next month.

She pointed out the chairman of the county council, Dr George Lord, and the cabinet member for education, June Longmuir, are both Conservatives.

Ms Dhonau added: "Tim Yeo was very supportive.

"We want parental choice and he said that is the policy of the Conservatives.

"We met him because he is a senior Conservative we wanted him to write to the county council expressing the Tory belief and he has agreed to do that."

Gary Crellin, who is battling to save closure-threatened Rigby Hall School, in Bromsgrove, said the support of a senior politician with Mr Yeo's SCOPE background was a big boost.

He added: "We are turning up the heat on the people who will decide the future of our vulnerable youngsters.

"They have got to listen to what senior politicians and parents are saying."

Mid-Worcestershire MP Peter Luff, who arranged the meeting, said: "The official Conservative party view is that the pendulum is swinging too far against special schools. That is the message I will be taking back."

The delegation, which also included Carol Johnson, Suzanne Fildes and Christine Powell from Thornton House, also met City Labour MP Mike Foster.

He is to pass a letter from parents to Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The plans currently include closing the Nursery Assessment Unit at Thornton House, in Wyld's Lane, and Manor Park School, in Turnpike Close, St John's.

Thornton House's main school would become a generic centre for two to 11-year-olds and Rose Hill School, in Windermere Drive, Warndon, a generic special needs high school.

Cliffey House School, in Hanley Castle, will close this summer, while Alexander Patterson, in Kidderminster, and Rigby Hall face the same fate.