A GROUP of campaigning parents lost their determined fight to save a secondary school yesterday.

Trevethin Community school in Pontypool will close in 2007 after proposals put forward by Torfaen council were rubber stamped by the Assembly executive.

Devastated parents received letters yesterday morning informing them of education minister Jane Davidson's decision.

Campaigner Barrie Pearce, whose 13-year-old daughter Sara attends the school, said: "This will come back to haunt the council.

"The teachers know the kids and their families. Now they will be just chucked at the back of a classroom and forgotten about.

"When I tell my daughter I imagine there will be floods of tears."

Torfaen's director of education Mike de Val met governors last night to discuss the decision.

Torfaen council's cabinet voted to close the school and move pupils to two other Pontypool comprehensives, West Monmouth and Abersychan, earlier this year.

Trevethin was earmarked for closure due to a dramatic drop in pupils to under 400. The council said the school was no longer viable and could not offer a broad curriculum.

Under the proposals, children starting their GCSEs next September will be moved to one of the schools a year earlier than other pupils.

Ms Davidson noted that Trevethin School had become "too small to be viable, financially or educationally".

She said she was "convinced the educational experience provided for pupils from Trevethin will be enhanced by the proposals".

Last year, protesters organised one of the largest public protests Pontypool had ever seen when hundreds of pupils and parents marched on the civic centre.

Cynthia Howells, vice chairwoman of the Community Action Group (CAT) which fought to save Trevethin, said: "We are devastated after all the hard work everybody has put in.

"They don't take any notice of what people think.

"The first time a bulldozer goes in to knock our school down we will be there."

The chairman of CAT, Arthur Attwood, said: "It's the pupils and the future pupils who have lost out."

The council executive member for education, Councillor John Turner, said: "We accept that not everyone agreed with the proposal but issues such as falling rolls, curriculum delivery and staff recruitment and retention must be addressed for the benefit of all our pupils."

In a joint statement, Torfaen politicians Lynne Neagle AM and Paul Murphy MP said: "It is sad news for Trevethin and for everyone who has fought to save the school.

"It is important we now focus our efforts on managing the transition for Trevethin pupils."

Campaigner Linda Foxwell, whose daughter Robyn, 10, is due to start at the school next year, said: "We will have a meeting and discuss where we can take our fight. We will fight them all the way."

A public meeting for parents will take place at 6pm next Tuesday at Trevethin Community School to discuss the transition process for pupils to either West Mon or Abersychan Schools.