PARENTS battling to stop Northcourt Primary School in Gravesend from closure are to get another chance to save it.

Kent County Council’s plan to shut the school has failed to get the unanimous backing of an independent committee made up of councillors, governors and church groups.

The primary school was thrown a lifeline this week after Kent’s Schools Organisation Committee was unable to agree to closure.

The committee’s decision means Northcourt’s fate will now have to be determined by the independent Schools Adjudicator, as it was the first time the school was threatened with closure.

A group of parents who attended the crunch meeting at Maidstone’s County Hall to hear the debate expressed delight at the outcome.

During the debate, local MP Chris Pond, together with parent governor Patricia Harman and Gravesham council leader Rosemary Leadley appealed for a reprieve.

Mrs Harman said it would be wrong to close the school when statistics showed it was among the most improved in the borough.

She also warned that parents of pupils at Northcourt had already been told by neighbouring schools they had no spare places to accommodate their children.

“Instead of children receiving a better standard of education, there will be children receiving no education in September,” she stressed.

With a dedicated headteacher and committed staff, Northcourt had every chance of improving, she added.