ANGRY parents and their children,pictured, demonstrated against proposals to close a number of Monmouthshire schools outside a packed public meeting.

And at the meeting, Monmouthshire council chiefs strenuously denied allegations from some parents that the site of one of them, Croesonen Infants School in Abergavenny, is set to be sold off to developers. The council said the allegation is completely without foundation. It also denies any valuation of Croesonen school was carried out and says no decision has been made on what to do with the site if the proposals go ahead.

Parents of children at two Abergavenny schools, Croesonen Infants and Park Street Infants, held placards and balloons with the plea 'save our school' before parents and education officials began a public meeting attended by around 300 people on Saturday.

Representatives of eight of 11 closure-threatened schools attended the meeting at King Henry VIII School, Abergavenny. It gave parents the chance to comment on controversial plans.

The plan is the biggest shake-up of the county's education service for many years. The proposals would see up to 11 schools close in a £10 million programme, and are a result of the council's strategic review of education.

The council say this will allow it to meet a government demand that school buildings should be brought up to standard by 2010 and junior classes reduced to 30 or fewer by 2005.

Parents from eight of the 11 schools attended the meeting including Mark Lawson, whose son attends Croesonen Infants, who said: "Croesonen is one of the top schools in Wales and they want to close it down. The building is in excellent condition and it got a grade 1 rating in its Estyn report - one of only three in Monmouthshire with that grade.

"We are not against any other schools, we want quality education throughout Abergavenny and for Croesonen to stay open."

Canon Jeremy Winston, chairman of governors at Park Street, said: "I think the important thing to express is that none of the infant schools are at loggerheads with one another."

Llanover parent Roisin Ballenger said: "If they close any of the schools they are taking out the heart of the communities."

Councillor Peter Fox, the cabinet member responsible for lifelong learning, reassured those present that a decision on the fate of the 11 schools hadn not yet been made.