More than 200 people attended Thursday night's meeting

More than 200 people attended a meeting in Llandinam on Thursday to hear Powys Council's consultation of its review of 108 small rural schools.

Llandinam, with just 36 pupils, is one of 13 being targeted for possible closure.

But parents and staff have vowed to continue their fight to keep the school open.

We will carry on collecting names for the petition and we will bombard councillors with letters throughout the summer Rita Griffiths, school secretary

"We didn't get many answers from the council but then again we didn't expect any," said school secretary, Rita Griffiths.

"The council need to work out the cost of bussing all these children to other schools.

"We will carry on collecting names for the petition and we will bombard councillors with letters throughout the summer."

Myra Jones, chair of the parent teacher association, said: "We've got a long way to go but presenting a 1,600 name petition shows the council the depth of feeling for the school in this area."

Chris Williams, chairman of Llandinam's governors, believes the council needs to be convinced that small schools provide a better standard of education for its pupils than larger ones.

Councillor Michael Williams chaired the meeting

"Pupils at small schools socialise across a wider age range which means that the older children look out for the younger ones," he said.

"The school is at the heart of the community and closing it could help destroy this community."

Campaigners say another reason for keeping the school open is the possibility of housing development the next few years.

Land near the school has been included in the council's draft Unitary Development Plan for the next 15 years.

Up to 40 new houses could be built on land nearby, according to landowner Lord Davies of Llandinam.

"The demand for housing at Llandinam is not being met at the moment," he said.

"Although there are problems with providing an access road to the land behind the school if these issues are resolved then new houses would keep school numbers up."

Parents at Llandinam are co-operating with parents from Llangurig school who are also fighting closure proposals.

Pupils at both schools would be transferred to either Llanidloes or Caersws.

Pupil numbers at Llandinam 1970 - 48 1975 - 41 1980 - 37 1985 - 29 1990 - 48 1995 - 40 2000 - 44 2003 - 36

The review of rural schools follows a call by the Audit Commission for local authorities to consider closing schools which are too big for the number of pupils they serve.

Councillor Michael Williams, vice-chair of the council's Montgomeryshire committee responsible for primary schools, chaired Thursday night's meeting.

"People left us in no doubt of their feelings and these will be taken into consideration when the director of education submits his report in the autumn," he said.

The council is also considering building a new area school at Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant to replace schools in that village as well as those at Llansilin and Llangedwyn.

Schools at Howey, Libanus and Trecastle are also threatened with closure.

In the south of the county near Ystradgynlais, Glanrhyd, Gurnos, Cwmtwrch and Ynysgedwen are earmarked for closure with a new school being built at the Glanrhyd site.

A single school could also replace separate infant and junior schools at Welshpool.

Even if the council decides to close any of its schools, the decision could be called in by the Welsh Assembly.