A CAMPAIGN aimed at uniting Abergav-enny in the fight to keep open schools threatened with closure is being launched next week.

Called SMASCH (Save Monmouthshire and Abergavenny Schools), the launch will be at a public meeting in the Priory Centre at St Mary's Church on Wednesday.

It will be chaired by the vicar of Abergavenny, the Rev Jeremy Winston, and those invited include politicians David Davies (Conservative), Huw Edwards, (Labour) Michael German (Liberal Democrat) and Stephen Thomas (Plaid Cymru), together with Pat Harris, of school transport pressure group BUSK (Belt Up School Kids).

The meeting has been organised by Park Street Infants School parents, one of the Abergavenny schools earmarked for closure, but they are issuing invitations to all the schools in the area who could ultimately be affected by the closure programme agreed by Monmouthshire county council.

Park Street governors have engaged a solicitor to look at applying for a judicial review, but parent governor Laurie Jones said yesterday: "We will ask for the judicial review as a last resort."

The council has carried out a strategic review of primary education in the county and has agreed that seven schools should close, but the final decision will be made next year by Assembly Education Minister Jane Davidson.

These include Park Street and Croesonen infants schools and St David's Junior School in Abergavenny and three village schools at Llanfoist, Llanover and Llanfair Kilgeddin, but the latter has been given a reprieve until 2008.

Parents' pressure forced the council to rethink about plans to close village schools at Clydach and Darenfelin and these remain open.

Billed as The Great Abergavenny Education Debate on the hundreds of yellow posters around town, the meeting, which starts at 7.30pm, is open to everyone.

Caroline Miles, a parent governor at Park Street, said: "All schools will be invited to send someone to the meeting.

"We are not trying to find solutions, we are trying to raise public awareness. "So far only those families with school-age children have been targeted, but there are many issues which affect people in the community.

"Our aim with this meeting is to have a unified voice for Abergavenny and bring the town back together again."

PICTURED: From the left are Norma Watkins, Laurie Jones and Caroline Miles, from Park Street Infants School, Abergavenny, who are among campaigners fighting to keep open closure-threatened schools in Monmouthshire.