A NORTH Tyne school which has no pupils on its book is set to close.

Northumberland County Council’s cabinet agreed on Tuesday to carry out a four-week formal consultation on the potential closure of West Woodburn First School, which currently has no children.

Publication of a statutory proposal for the school follows four previous periods of consultation relating to the school’s future.

In the most recent informal consultation, between December 2019 and January 2020, only 10 responses were received, and nine of those supported the closure of the school.

Parents responded to say they were sending their children to other schools, and that the school could no longer provide the whole curriculum onsite, resulting in youngsters having to be transported to Otterburn.

The most recent consultation was carried out in light of there being only three children on roll at the school at that time, and the council sought the views of the staff, the governors of The River Rede Federation, parents and the wider community in general.

The only consultee to not support the closure was The River Rede Federation, which supported the option to extend the age range of the school to become a primary school.

Governors of the federation felt that becoming a primary would show the local community that the council had confidence in the school and that it would encourage more parents to choose this school and avoid their children having to travel outside the village.

The consultation will run from March 12 to April 9, with a final decision due on May 12.

Coun.Wayne Daley, cabinet member for children’s services, said: “There are unfortunately no other viable alternatives to the closure of this school and that is why we have agreed to move to the next stage in the process and approve the intention to close.”