Parents and pupils were bound to be angry and upset at news that their neighbourhood school was shutting its doors in six months.

Teachers who now have to find employment elsewhere would hardly be pleased either.

But if, as we are now told, pupil numbers at the school have halved in six years, and the school's financial management was taken over by the education authority last year because of a budget deficit, it seems Highercroft is not economically viable in its present form.

Whether that situation should automatically mean closure of the site is debatable.

There are still many small village schools around the country and parents and teachers might well argue that a public discussion of the situation at Highercroft should have preceded announcement of the recommendation for closure as the county council are doing with parents in Rossendale.

We are told the final decision on whether to close will be made in the autumn term "after consultations".

But since the chairman of the governors has said "the reality is the school has to close" next week's meetings are likely to be descriptions of what will happen rather than what most would call consultations.