STUDENTS at a Blackburn school are launching a passionate campaign to save it from closure.

Pupils and staff at Beardwood School said they were devastated when Blackburn with Darwen Council announced plans to close it down under the £150million Building Schools for the Future (BSF) education shake-up.

Under the borough-wide scheme, the Preston New Road school would close by 2011, and three new "super schools" would be built at Pleckgate High School, Witton Park High School, and Blakewater College.

Beardwood is earmarked for closure because it is on "the least satisfactory site for development", due to the predicted fall in pupils numbers in the west of the borough.

Now Beardwood pupils are fighting back, saying their opinions should be taken into account, and are mounting a campaign to drum up public support.

One the past few weeks, the school council has been holding special meetings devoted to the campaign.

Posters have been put up in nearby neighbourhoods by pupils in their spare time, and leaflets will soon be distributed in the community.

The council has also designed a Save Our School t-shirt, and a banner will soon be going up outside the school.

Fourteen-year-old council member Inayat Khan Jadoon said: "We don't want it closed down, and people should know that.

"We spoke to quite a few people in the area who didn't know about the plan, and were shocked.

"It's a really good school with high standards, pupils are well behaved and we don't want it to close.

PSHCE co-ordinator Helen Thompson, who assists the school council, said: "The pupils are determined to save the school, and will continue with the campaign through the summer holidays, in their own time.

"It says a great deal that the students fighting for the school will not personally be affected by the closure because they'll have left - they're doing it for future pupils."

Teachers have also been left "devastated" by the news, which could result in job losses.

Lesley Ham, NASUWT Lancashire's negotiating secretary, said: "The council's claim about falling student numbers is rubbish, the school continues to grow as does its success."

Peter Morgan, strategic director of children's services, said that falling pupil numbers in the west of Blackburn meant that only two out of three schools were needed.

He added: "Closing any school is difficult, but Beardwood is the smallest of the three sites and is not flexible enough for large scale development.

"Traffic has been raised as an issue by parents, but we have told them that traffic problems are not the reason for the proposed closure.

"Our proposal is based on the fact that Pleckgate and Witton sites are the ideal size and location for creating extended, state of the art facilities that young people and the whole community can benefit from.

"If closure goes ahead, the excellent teaching and expertise there will not be lost as staff will transfer to other schools."