TWO PUBLIC meetings are to be held as a consultation into proposals to close Eskdale School in Whitby begins.

North Yorkshire County Council announced earlier this month it was to begin consulting on plans to merge the school with Caedmon College. It would mean a single school in the town for 11 to 19 years olds and the closure of the Eskdale site.

Under the proposals the schools would be merged from September this year and have a single governing body and headteacher.

The council has now announced two meetings are to be held for parents and other stakeholders.

They will take place on Monday, March 14 and Tuesday, March 15 at Whitby Pavilions on West Cliff, Whitby at 6.30pm. The council has advised people to attend just one meeting, as the same information will be presented on both evenings.

Campaigners fighting to keep the school open say it will leave parents with the choice of just one school in Whitby providing secondary education, with the next nearest choice of school more than 20 miles away.

Earlier this month Fight to Save Eskdale School handed in a petition to the council containing more than 5,000 signatures and a protest march was held through Whitby on Saturday.

Many of the campaigners wanted the middle school to extend its age range from 11 to 14 to teach pupils up to the age of 16.

There are currently 1,082 pupils on roll at Caedmon College and 310 at Eskdale School. The education authority says bringing the two schools together makes the best use of available resources.

In its consultation document, the authority says there would be a large cost in training Eskdale staff and it may not have the facilities to teach some GCSEs.

People can access the consultation documents by visiting: http://www.northyorks.gov.uk/eskdalecaedmonproposal

The consultation will run from February 16 until April 1 and a final decision will be made on June 14.