A public meeting about a school's expansion plans saw Weybridge Hall filled to the rafters with angry parents and residents demanding to know more.

The meeting was organised by action group Save Our Schools Weybridge in response to Cleves School publishing proposals to expand to provide full primary education for pupils aged four-plus.

The school currently caters for 600 pupils aged seven to 11, and the proposed changes would see those numbers rise to about 1,050.

Governors from both Manby Lodge and Oatlands School in Weybridge were at the packed meeting on Thursday, May 17, to voice major concerns about the plans, which they said could lead to closure of their schools.

Governors from Heathside and Burhill Infants were also concerned about the lack of consultation and what one resident dubbed an "information vacuum".

Marion Pidgeon, chairman of the governors at Manby Lodge, said the school was not against change, but that it was against change when it was not for the better.

The infant school has heard from prospective parents telling them they were not going to apply because they thought Manby Lodge was closing down, and teacher recruitment has suffered for the same reason.

Mrs Pidgeon said: "I’m disappointed that Cleves have chosen to proceed in the way they have, without any apparent consideration for the local community and local schools in the community."

Councillor Barry Cheyne, chairman of governors at Oatlands, which celebrates 150 years this year, said a letter from Cleves had boasted the changes would close the attainment gap, provide seamless education provision and superb facilities.

He said: "They did not allude to what they still have not told anybody, and that is if their plans come to fruition that it would likely herald the demise of one or two local schools.

"Schools that have served this community very, very well and they are Oatlands and Manby Lodge."

He said the subsequent traffic was a "horrendous prospect" and the safety aspect of dropping that many infant-aged children into an already congested area had to be considered.

One woman who was involved in the Crisis campaign to get a crossing outside Cleves, said: "I see one child hit or nearly hit outside that school every week.

"Does it take a child to be killed outside that school for people to do something about the traffic in that area?"

Cleves governor Gerard Drent said: "All the school has done here is explore just this one option and this option has not been turned into a plan yet."

He did confirm the plan was for five form entry, but was booed when he said: "It looks like you've got the interests of the schools at heart but really we should be looking at the interests of the children here."

Those at the meeting were encouraged to write to their MPs and the Secretary of State for Education to voice their concerns.