A SCHOOL which has slumped to just 117 pupils is set to close.

Parents who mounted a fight to save RM Grylls Middle School at Hightown, Liversedge, will be dealt the blow this week.

Kirklees Council education officials say pupil numbers have fallen so low that it is impossible for the school to continue.

At a meeting on Wednesday they will ask councillors begin closure steps.

Only 13 new pupils started at the school in September.

A report said: "The proposal to close RM Grylls Middle School does not reflect on the commitment and dedication of the staff.

"However, it must be accepted that the size of the school is such that in the future it will face insurmountable challenges to effectively meet the education and social needs of the pupils."

Closure was narrowly averted in 2002, when Kirklees agreed to hold off for the time being.

But now the school is said to have reached a crisis point where closure is inevitable in 2007.

Most pupils are expected to transfer to West End Middle School in Cleckheaton.

Council chiefs say they want to keep the building for a community use yet to be determined.

There is no intention to sell the site for house building, they added.

Education officials have played down fears that West End Middle School is too small for an influx of new pupils.

They say just a few changes will be needed.

Kirklees's Cabinet, which meets on Wednesday, will be asked to authorise the publication of statutory closure notices, giving opponents another period in which to complain.