CHILDREN and parents used a Christmas carol concert to voice protests against threats to close their school.

Infant and primary school children gathered in force outside St Andrew Church Huxley on Wednesday morning.

Each child and dozens of parents donned blue t-shirts which read: 'Hands off Huxley School'.

Placards also bore a slogan mocking Cheshire County Council's Transforming Learning Communities (TLC) review which proposes to close the school.

Their message read: 'Stop Threatening Local Communities'.

During the carol service, the Rev Paul Barrow, a school governor, asked the congregation to pray that long term decisions would be made rather than short term answers to a funding problem.

Headteacher Lynda Herrick said she was very pleased but unsurprised by the effort put in by parents.

She said: 'I think parents really appreciate what they've got here and are keen to keep it.'

Residents believe closing the school would devastate a tight knit village community.

Huxley parish councillor John Reynoldson, whose two children attend the school, said: 'The children here do everything together. They go to football together, move around together and it would be very upsetting to splinter this.

'There's been so much investment in this school which will just be wasted if this goes ahead.'

He vowed this was not a one off protest: 'We're in for the long haul on this one.'

Huxley Primary School is one of four threatened with the axe under the review.

The shake up of junior provision is an attempt to slash surplus places which, the council said, directs money away from children and into unnecessary building maintenance.