AN MP has invited Education Secretary David Blunkett to visit a tiny village school threatened with closure.

Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans has asked Mr Blunkett to visit Tosside Primary School "to fully appreciate why closing the school is immoral and indefensible."

A question mark has hung over the Gisburn Forest school since the Government announced cash cuts for schools with small numbers of children.

Education bosses gave the go-ahead for a consultation into the future of the tiny school on the Lancashire Yorkshire border after the number of pupils dropped from 26 to nine in eight years.

And Lancashire County Council's education sub-committee approved closure at a meeting earlier this month.

Mr Evans held emergency talks with Lancashire County Council education boss Chris Trinnick to discuss the proposed closure.

But he was told the only person who could step in to prevent closure was the Education Secretary.

The MP said: "I have written to David Blunkett asking him to intervene and give Tosside Primary School the reprieve it deserves. The Government never hesitates to shout from the rooftops that it is the party of education, education, education. Well, let Mr Blunkett prove it.

"If the school closes down, the whole of the Tosside community will suffer. It is an excellent school and any attempt to close it is indefensible.

"If the school closes, the children of Tosside will not only lose out on an excellent education, but will find themselves travelling long distances to the nearest alternative school.

"I have invited the Education Secretary to meet the governors, teachers and pupils of Tosside Primary School to hear first-hand why it must be allowed to stay open." A spokesman for Mr Evans's Westminster office said a reply to the invitation had not yet been received.

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