PARENTS of children at a Southampton school with 83 spare places are battling to save it from closure for a second time in a year.

About 120 parents of children at Moorlands Infant School in Bitterne yesterday turned up to a public meeting as education bosses proposed a radical shake-up of school places in the Bitterne and Townhill Park areas.

Southampton Local Educat-

ion Authority needs to remove about 400 surplus places, caused by falling birth rates, by 2008.

Four of the proposals put forward involve turning Moorlands, in Kesteven Way, into a primary school, but one is to close it down.

Among the other ideas to tackle dwindling pupil numbers are the mergers of Glenfield Infant and Beechwood Junior, and Harefield Infant and Junior schools.

Under the proposals, Townhill Junior could also see its admission number reduced from 102 to 90 pupils.

The consultation comes after the City Council's executive member for education Councillor Calvin Horner opted not to close down Moorlands, following a campaign by parents earlier this year who wanted to see it turned into a primary.

Some of the mums and dads of the 97 children aged four to seven at the school, which has an admission roll of 180, spoke out against the consultation and pointed to the school's high teaching and learning standards.

Commenting on the consultation one parent said: "We feel that we are always going back to square one, which is putting a blight on the school. It just seems to go and on."

Parent Jo Barnard said the packages of proposals put forward meant anyone opposed to Harefield Infant and Junior schools merging would opt for proposal four.

"This would effectively be a black mark against the school," she said.

Some parents also questioned why only a figure had been given on the cost of turning Moorlands into a primary (£310,000) and no breakdown of costs offered for changes to other schools.

Rosemary Tong, Southampton City Council's head of learning services, said the council had to look at what was "fair and equitable" across the city as a whole.

"I can assure you that your views will be listened to very carefully," she said.