PROSPECTIVE parents have pledged to send their unborn children to a village school under threat from closure following an appeal by the head teacher.

The backing from younger members of the community in and around Lowick has come after Shirley Rainbow asked for anyone living in the catchment area who intends to send their children to the school in the near future to get in touch.

Her appeal was made at a recent public meeting and, since then, a number of people have written to say they would be sending any children they had to the school.

Cumbria County Council - which has proposed the closure to reduce empty classroom places - claims that within the next ten years there will be no pupils at the school.

In the meantime, the school is campaigning to stay open and is trying to gather evidence to prove that pupil numbers will increase in the future from the current roll of 17.

"We have had two or three people even write and promise that when they have children they do plan to send them to the school, which is brilliant as it shows the strength of support the school has," said Miss Rainbow.

"We have also had a handful of letters from people against the closure outlining why they think it should stay open and some of them are absolutely outstanding."

Lowick has until November 27 to collect new evidence to present to the school's organisation committee.

The committee will then receive evidence from the Local Education Authority about why the proposed closure should go ahead before making a decision about the future of the school early next year.

The school is also waiting for a response from a letter sent to the council warning that they plan to challenge the authority's decision at a judicial review.

Leading education lawyer representing A-level students across the county, Jack Rabinowicz, has agreed to represent the school.

He agrees with campaigners that there have been serious flaws in the way the LEA and council have conducted the review for the closure of the school.

Anyone against the closure must send their letters to the school before November 27.