Education bosses have been criticised in a damning report into the way they handled the potential closure of a Bradford primary school.

The company which runs the district's education services and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds have been singled out for their part in the consultation over the future of St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School.

Education bosses announced earlier this year that they planned to shut down the Jermyn Street school because of falling pupil numbers and an Ofsted inspection which placed the school in the serious weaknesses category.

The school was handed an 11th hour reprieve in July when Education Bradford's interim managing director Trevor Edinborough told a meeting the school could be allowed to stay open.

However at the same meeting the school's acting head teacher, Jo Woodhead, revealed she had been told by the Diocese that school would definitely be closing in 2006.

Bradford Council's Young People and Education Improvement Committee decided to produce a report into the way the consultation has been handled.

It has been produced by Councillor Dorothy Clamp (Con, Keighley East).

Her report, which will be presented to councillors at a meeting tomorrow, criticises both Education Bradford and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds.

It says Education Bradford failed to provide her with a report promised in September into the consultation process. Coun Clamp's report says: "The action of Education Bradford in not providing me with the promised report appears to me to be symptomatic of the whole casual approach with which at least the earlier steps in the process were carried out, without thought or concern for the children, staff and parents involved.

"In the case of Roman Catholic schools, the diocese should be more open regarding their intentions, with proper explanations of why they are unable to keep open schools where that proves to be the case."

Coun Clamp's report also reveals the diocese brought an architect into the school to examine converting the building into an apartment block.

The report has been welcomed by the school's former chairman of governors Frances Edgar Burke who has a three-year-old daughter at St Mary's nursery.

She said: "I agree with all of those comments. Almost half of the parents of the school have withdrawn their children because of the uncertainty.

"And not one of them would have withdrawn their children if it had not been because of what has happened."

The school now looks like it will stay open as part of a federation with St Peter's Catholic Primary School, which will see the two separate schools run with one joint governing body.

Both The Roman Catholic Diocese and Education Bradford declined to comment on the report.