PUPILS learned at an assembly on Monday that their school is to close.

Mrs Margaret Chamberlain, headteacher of St Paul's since 1976, broke the bad news to the 72 youngsters.

"There were tears. It was dreadful," she said. "In the eighties, there were plans to close close the school because of money. But the opposition was so strong the plans were dropped. In those days, people's opinions mattered."

A nine-month fight to save St Paul's was lost this week when an independent adjudicator ruled the local education authority was right to earmark the school for closure as part of proposals to address falling pupil rolls and surplus classroom places.

The school will shut its gates for the last time at the end of the summer term and its pupils will move to St Andrew's CE Primary School for the start of the new school year in September.

Professor Philip Hunter was called in to rule on the plans after the Schools Organisation Committee failed to reach a unanimous decision on the future of St Paul's. He held a public meeting on October 17 to debate the proposed closure.

In his ruling, the university academic dismissed the SOS group's arguments which disputed the figures used by the local authority to justify the school's closure.

He also said the roads around St Andrew's were not significantly more dangerous than those around St Paul's, and also concluded that there was no evidence to suggest it could not cope with the influx of additional pupils.

Leading SOS campaigner Mr Andrew Todd said: "We were quite positive about the meeting and put our case clearly. He seemed to a be a people's person."

Mr Todd said he cannot understand how the professor reached his decision.

"His decisions for closing the school are flawed," he said. "St Andrew's is on a main road and our school is on a side street so of course there is a greater danger. And St Andrew's is nearly full to capacity: the only way extra pupils can be accommodated is in temporary classrooms."

Leader of Bury Council Coun John Byrne has now called on everyone involved in the proposals to "work together" in the interests of the children.

He said: "Emotions always run high whenever there is talk of school closure or amalgamation.

"Now I believe it is in the best interests of all, especially the children concerned, that we all work together, the council, staff, governors and parents, to ensure that the closure goes ahead smoothly and with the least possible disruption to the education of these youngsters.

"St Paul's has served its community well in the past, but now we need to move on."