THE fight to save a school from closure almost descended into chaos tonight when more than 1,500 people turned up to challenge the decision.

Tempers frayed as hundreds of people faced being turned away from the meeting to keep open the doors of St Peter's Catholic College of Maths and Computing, in South Bank, near Middlesbrough.

An independent government-appointed adjudicator was set to hear residents express their anger at Redcar and Cleveland Councils controversial decision, which would force pupils to travel seven miles to Sacred Heart RC School in Redcar.

But the sheer volume of people, desperate to have their say, in Eston City Learning Centre resulted in hundreds of people trooping a quarter-of-a-mile to hold the meeting in the sports hall of the beleaguered school.

Raw emotion could be heard in the voices of the massed audience who were given the chance to vent their frustration and attempt to persuade the adjudicator to reverse the council's decision.

Former deputy head girl at the school, Jessica Robinson, said: "It is a total and utter shame to be closing down a school like this. People love coming here, they feel safe and the standard of education is excellent."

John Snowball, whose five children all attended the school, said: "How the council can close this school is beyond belief.

"We are looking around and wanting to know why they are determined to close it when it is doing so well."

One parent, who was close to tears as he addressed the packed hall, said: "We just want this school to stay open, if it closes it will rip the heart out of the Catholic community in South Bank."

For more than 90 minutes young and old expressed their desire for the school to remain open and at the heart of the South Bank community.

Adjudicator Alan Parker reassured the crowd that he would consider all of their concerns prior to reaching a decision before the end of March.

Speaking after the meeting, Acting head teacher Pamela Hanrahan said: "I was absolutely over the moon with the amount of people who turned out to speak their minds - it just shows how much this school means to the community."

And Caroline Carsley, who led the call for the meeting to be moved, said: "It was absolutely ridiculous that they tried to fit so many people into the hall, it was never going to be big enough and people were getting very angry and frustrated."

Anyone wanting to comment on the proposed closure of the school has until March 3 to contact the Office of the Schools Adjudicator by calling 0870 0012468 or emailing lisa.short@osa.gsi.gov.uk