PARENTS at a popular New Forest school last night sent an overwhelming "hands off" message to Hampshire County Council after listening to a list of options which could include closing it down.

About 60 mums and dads turned up at a special consultation meeting held at the 196-pupil Blackfield Infant School, which is one of several in the Totton and Waterside areas having their futures closely looked at.

They were told by the county's education officer for primary schools Chris Holt that because of heavily falling rolls and an increasing number of vacant spaces closure is a possibility.

The three options at Blackfield involve merging Blackield Junior and Blackfield and Fawley Infant Schools into a 630-pupil primary school, amalgamating Blackfield Infant and Junior Schools and leaving Fawley Infant as it is and merging the two infant schools and leaving Blackfield Junior as it is.

Mr Holt said that only 684 of the 840 places at the three schools were taken up at present and predicted that the number of vacancies was likely to soar to 299 by 2007.

Several parents expressed the fear that four-year-olds starting off at an infant school would have a more difficult time if they were plunged into a 630-pupil school with 11-year-olds using the same playgrounds and facilities.

But when Mr Holt asked parents for their preferred option, a sea of hands calling for the situation to remain unchanged, with infant and junior schools at Blackfield and the infant school at Fawley, shot into the air. As a result, the options of amalgamations or mergers were not put.

The other options were not put.