PENSNETT ward councillors are continuing to fight Dudley Council over its plans to close Pensnett High School after the proposals were given the go-ahead.

Councillor Liz Walker, cabinet member for children’s services, rubberstamped the statutory notice to shut the Tiled House Lane school at the beginning of the year, despite most of the consultation responses being opposed to the closure.

Parents, pupils, staff, governors and councillors have been fighting the proposals since the council announced its plans in July last year.

But council education officers claimed the school is “failing the young people of Pensnett” by being educationally and economically unviable.

Despite protesters providing a number of alternative options to the closure, council of ficers claimed they did not sufficiently address how the education and financial concerns could be addressed.

And therefore Mrs Walker agreed to close the school with effect from August 31.

The decision has now gone out to public consultation for six weeks before finally going to cabinet and full council, as ward councillors Judy Foster and Karen Jordan call in the controversial decision for further examination.

Ms Foster said: “We are really saddened by the decision and know from our own consultation that a huge number of the people we represent in Pensentt are very angry.

“We have now got the necessary support from the two opposition parties on the children’s services select committee to call the decision in and will be using the special scrutiny meeting to ask questions which have not yet been satisfactorily answered.”

A special meeting of the select committee will be held in the next few weeks. If anyone has any questions they would like the ward councillors to raise, call Ms Foster on 07525 154 493 or email cllr.judy.foster@dudley.gov.uk