A RAMSBOTTOM Primary school WILL close, a Government inspector has ruled.

The gates of St Paul's CE Primary will be locked for the last time at the end of the summer term next year as part of Bury's proposals to address falling pupil rolls and surplus classroom places in the borough.

Its pupils will move to nearby St Andrew's CE Primary School for the start of the September 2003 term.

The decision, made by school's adjudicator Professor Philip Hunter, has devastated parents and members of the Save Our School (SOS) campaign group which has staged a nine-month battle to keep open the Crow Lane school.

It currently caters for 72 youngsters, with a capacity of 99.

Margaret Chamberlain, who has been head of St Paul's CE Primary since 1976, told the Bury Times: "Parents of children at this school are devastated by the ruling.

"We have nowhere to go now. This is it for our school."

Professor Hunter was called in to rule on the proposed closure after the Schools Organisation Committee failed to reach a unanimous decision on the future of St Paul's.

The university academic held a public meeting on October 17 to debate the proposed closure.

"We were quite positive after the meeting and we did think we had a chance. But the school's adjudicator has gone with the party line," said Mrs Chamberlain.

In his ruling, Professor Hunter said the Local Education Authority (LEA) was right to earmark the school for closure because it is "the smallest school in the area with the highest proportion of unfilled places".

He 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 around St Paul's and also concluded that there was no evidence to suggest it could not cope with the influx of additional pupils.

Mrs Chamberlain added: "This is a very sad day for the school and community. It will be a huge loss."

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

He said: "As you would expect, emotions always run high whenever there is talk of school closure or amalgamation.

"However, the facts surrounding the council's decision have been given a fair and thorough airing.

"This latest decision was made by an independent inspector who listened to what everyone had to say before making any adjudication.

"Now, I believe it is in the best interests of all, especially the children concerned, that we all work together, 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.

"We need to adopt a common-sense approach and look to the future. St Paul's has served its community well in the past, but now we need to move on."

There is no right of appeal on the decision to close St Paul's although the SOS group could seek a judicial review.