PUPILS and parents are celebrating an astonishing victory after saving Broad Oak and Prestwich high schools.

Euphoria rocked the town hall as council plans to close both establishments were thrown out by the School Organisation Committee.

Campaigners for Prestwich were jubilant as the plan for their school was rejected outright on Tuesday night.

This followed the SOC's decision to merely give Broad Oak a reprieve by sending the matter to an independent adjudicator but in the wake of the Prestwich vote, the council has thrown in the towel and said it will go back to the drawing board.

Ms Sue Arnall, chairman of governors at Broad Oak, said: "I am absolutely overjoyed that they have seen sense. This is good news for the people of East Bury: it would have been a tragedy to lose the school."

And Mr Geoff Barlow, headteacher at Prestwich Arts College, said: "Don't under-estimate the power of a community when it comes together around a sensitive issue like this."

The council's proposals were designed to tackle falling pupil numbers in Bury, which would leave more than 2,000 vacant places in borough schools in ten years' time. But protesters, in a bitter battle which has lasted nearly a year, claimed that both schools singled out for closure were popular and successful.

The matter went to the SOC, which comprises five groups representing the council, schools, the Roman Catholic and Church of England faiths, and the Learning and Skills Council.

Council leader Wayne Campbell said: "While we still accept falling rolls on the basis of the figures objectively arrived at, we clearly have not taken the public with us. We are concerned that we have failed to make our case even though it is clearly correct.

"We have made a decision to recommend that Broad Oak be withdrawn from consideration by the adjudicator as we believe that it has a stronger case than Prestwich Arts College. It is inconceivable that we should not allow our children to end up being served by the right school in the right place. This would be an illogical position."

Coun Campbell added: "We will be calling for council members, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservative party, to come up with a whole council view, with us, on how to proceed and tackle the problem of falling pupil rolls so that we can provide a quality education for our children in five years, the timescale for which we are obliged to plan."