Furious school governors claim they have been misled over promised improvements to a footpath.

The Church First School in Thornton is to move to the Leaventhorpe Middle School site under Bradford Council's education review plans.

The Rev Stuart Hacking, vicar of Thornton and chairman of the school governors, claims the Council has backed down on promises to improve the uneven path which children living in Thornton will have to use to get to the new site.

It leads across a rickety bridge over a beck which governors say is unsuitable for young children and parents with pushchairs. The only alternative is a car journey along Allerton Lane or a long trip via Bell Dean using two buses, they claim.

"At first they suggested a suspension bridge, then they promised a road, then it was a footpath," said Mr Hacking.

"Now they've promised nothing and they expect our children to walk down a hill, over a narrow bridge, up the other side and across boggy fields - and all this in the middle of winter, with deep snow on the ground and in darkness."

Governors have previously protested that moving the school to the Leaventhorpe site, which is in nearby Allerton, means it will no longer be part of the Thornton community.

The move was approved by the Council's education committee on Tuesday as part of the Schools Review package of measures which will see the district's schools returning to a two-tier system.

Tory councillors tabled several amendments to the proposals, one of which called for the Council to fund footpath improvements and lighting at the Leaventhorpe site, but these were rejected by the committee.

Mr Hacking said: "They clearly don't care about our children and are being more than slightly economical with the truth.

"For those without transport it's going to be impossible to get there. Even my own son, Tim, won't be able to get to the Church School if it moves out of Thornton."

No-one at Bradford Council was available for comment today.

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