HUNDREDS of parents and children marched through Huddersfield Town Hall last night to protest against school plans.

There were angry scenes as some demonstrators tried to force their way into the council chamber during Kirklees Council’s monthly meeting.

The campaigners are unhappy at the council’s £200m high school plan for north Kirklees.

Most of the protesters came from Castle Hall School in Mirfield – which is threatened with closure – and from Birkenshaw, which is due to lose its middle school without getting a new high school.

Hundreds of children, parents and teachers gathered outside the town hall for a noisy protest before the monthly meeting began at 4pm.

Forty-five minutes into the meeting, Birkenshaw man Andrew Gray forced his way into the council chamber leading a line of small children. The father-of-two demanded to be allowed to march past the 69 councillors in the room in a silent protest.

Mr Gray was blocked by a town hall security guard before Kirklees chief executive Rob Vincent went over to negotiate. After a five-minute delay, Mr Gray was allowed to lead a procession through the chamber.

The hundreds of protesters took 10 minutes to march through the hall, with opposition Conservative councillors applauding them.

Speaking to the Examiner after walking through the council chamber, Mr Gray said: “We’re trying to highlight the need for a high school in Birkenshaw to preserve education in the village and our way of life. We haven’t been listened to yet.”

Back in the meeting, councillors heard official protest speeches by parents, teachers and children.

Castle Hall pupil Jade Wilkinson, 15, said: “I’ve collected 300 signatures against the closure and no-one I asked refused to sign. Please don’t ruin the education of children in Mirfield.”

The council’s Cabinet wants to close Castle Hall and expand nearby Mirfield Free Grammar. But that school’s principal Lorraine Barker opposes the proposal.

She told councillors: “You plan to have 1,900 students on our site, which has a capacity of 1,500 with no room to safely expand. You’ve ignored your electorate. We will take our opposition to the Schools Adjudicator.”

But the council’s Cabinet member for schools Clr John Smithson denied he had ignored protests. The Almondbury Lib Dem said: “We listen to what people say, but there’s a difference between listening and agreeing.”

Clr Smithson added that Castle Hall was not achieving good enough exam results. He said: “It’s a coasting school, Ofsted has said that students are not challenged. We’re continually told what a wonderful school Castle Hall is and frankly, it’s not.”

Kirklees began legal moves to close Castle Hall last week. Cabinet will make a final decision on the rest of the north Kirklees plan this autumn.

A schools plan for south Kirklees will be unveiled later this year.

Clr Smithson swore at the Mayor of Kirklees after she told him to stop eating in the council chamber last night.

The councillor was rustling what appeared to be a paper bag of food as Mirfield resident Lisa Sutcliffe spoke against the closure of Castle Hall.

The Mayor, Clr Julie Stewart-Turner, told Clr Smithson to be quiet. He replied: “If that’s what you want, I’ll b****r off.” He then left the council chamber for five minutes.

While he was away, Labour’s Clr Ken Smith said Clr Smithson was unwell. Clr Smith told the meeting: “John Smithson is seriously ill and may be in pain. He may need to take some form of sustenance.”