Teachers and union representatives gathered outside Leeds Civic Hall to present Leeds City Council with more than 1,500 signatures of people opposing the proposals.

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A petition circulated by the school council was signed by a large percentage of the school's 1,250 pupils and the group explained in an accompanying letter that "many students and people in the community are against the closure".

More than 100 teachers and support workers have also signed the petition saying they want to stop further disruption to the school which was only formed four years ago in a merger of two of the city's poorest performing establishments – Merlyn Rees in Belle Isle and Matthew Murray in Holbeck.

They are annoyed by proposals by Education Leeds, which runs the city's local education authority, to close the school in August and re-open as an academy sponsored by a partnership of schools from Garforth.

Education Leeds claims standards at the school are not rising fast enough.

The company, owned by the council, submitted a bid to Government and a public consultation about the idea has now come to an end.