Council forced to withdraw school plan

Officials have had to temporarily withdraw proposals to close Lickhill Primary School and to expand Stourport Primary because public notices contained the wrong information.

Worcestershire County Council published a statutory notice on May 8 which parents claimed contained mistakes and was too early because a four-week consultation period had not ended.

The errors prompted the parent's action group Stourport Parents In favour of Choice in Education, otherwise known as SPICE, to call for the council to withdraw the proposals.

The council has now said the plans will now be re-issued later this week.

Graeme Harvey, spokesman for SPICE, said: "Council officers are paid to proof-read official documentation. "Continued re-drafting of the documents, with four incorrect versions in eight days, as well as an incorrect statutory notice, is nothing short of abysmal.

"We acknowledge the decision to republish was the correct one, however, the situation should never have come to this."

Sanina Kaur, spokesman for Worcestershire County Council, said: "We have made every effort throughout this consultation to ensure that the processes were as open and transparent as possible.

"Nothing has been deliberately excluded from the paperwork and the amendments that have been made have been at the request of SPICE."