COUNCILLORS are being asked to write the final chapter in the controversial saga of a small village school facing closure because its pupils moved out months ago.

A three-year struggle to replace accommodation at Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe CE Primary School, near Thirsk, came to a head earlier this year.

It has been at the centre of a bitter wrangle involving governors and some local residents following the loss of a hall and classroom leased from the village institute committee and the failure of plans for a new school because of soaring costs.

Despite objections from some residents, permission was given in March for a new school, expected to cost about £500,000, under a scheme promoted by the governors, on a greenfield site at the edge of the village.

A month later, the village institute committee told the school to quit its leased accommodation by the end of the summer term, which would have left one classroom and a small playground for 36 pupils.

In May, the county council made arrangements to transfer pupils to surplus classrooms at Sowerby Community Primary School and All Saints' Roman Catholic Primary School, both in Thirsk, although some parents sought places at other schools in the area.

By July, the estimated cost of a new school rose above £1m, mainly because of road requirements, and the council said the increase could not be justified.

The council is now proposing to close the school from March 31.

On Tuesday, the results of public consultations will go before the council executive, which is being asked to agree that Thirsk Community Primary School should serve the Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe area because it is only three miles away.

Bernadette Jones, of the children and young people's service, said the preferred option among some parents and governors was for an area shared between Thirsk and other village schools, but said it would put further pressure on an annual transport bill of more than £20m.

Mrs Jones described the situation as unprecedented and said: "This has been a long and difficult saga.

"Officers have spent considerable time progressing schemes to try to improve accommodation, and the governing body has worked hard to do this too.

"However, we are in a position where there are no pupils at the school and little prospect of resurrecting it to the thriving and high-achieving school it was less than a year ago.