PARENT campaigners will this week enlist heavyweight political support in their bid to halt county council plans to transform the special education system in Worcestershire.

A four-man delegation from Thornton House's Parents Action Group are set to meet Shadow Education Minister Tim Yeo at 9.30am in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

Mid-Worcestershire MP Peter Luff arranged the discussion, during which Mr Yeo is expected to give his full support to the campaign.

"I'm delighted that he has taken time to meet us and back our fight to keep a specialist school for moderate learning difficulties in Worcester," said Mary Dhonau, a member of the delegation.

"One of the advantages of this meeting is that the chairman of the county council, Dr George Lord, and the cabinet member for education, June Longmuir, are both Conservatives and they should listen to their leader.

"The more high-profile supporters we bring on board the harder we will be to ignore and I just hope councillors listen to reason."

Worcestershire County Council's proposals to reduce the number of schools and facilities devoted to children with learning needs, prompted the Evening News to launch a campaign to save the county's special schools.

Wednesday's delegation follows a demonstration outside Shire Hall last month, which attracted parents, teachers and pupils from all over Worcestershire. They handed over a petition with 8,500 signatures, asking councillors to reconsider their proposals.

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, in Bromsgrove, face the same fate under the plans.