THE future of Ampfield Primary School has again been left hanging in the balance.

Three of the four groups represented at a a meeting of the Schools Organisation Committee at Winchester - Hampshire education Service, a school governors' group and the Roman Catholic Church - voted against keeping it open after August 31st next year.

But Church of England's representatives voted to keep the school open. As the vote was not unanimous the issue will now go to the Darlington-based Schools' adjudication service, which will appoint an independent adjudicator within the next two weeks.

That adjudicator is likely to ask for further information from the interested organisations and may call a meeting before taking a decision, probably in May.

The last time an SOC meeting was held in Hampshire, it considered the case of Pinewood Infant School at Farnborough and voted 3-1 in favour of keeping it open. Because it was not unanimous, it was referred to an adjudicator who went with the majority against the county's proposal.

After the meeting on Ampfield, the school governors' chairman Tony Knight insisted all hope was not lost. "The fat lady may have gone for a dress fitting, but she certainly hasn't sung yet," he said.

He paid tribute to everyone who has been involved in the SAS (Save Ampfield School) campaign. "Win or lose," he reflected, "I think everyone involved has done the very best they can."

But he was clearly unhappy at the interest shown by some of the members of the groups involved in last week's SOC meeting.

"Not all of the people who should have been there were there and some didn't even bother to send apologies. It was also clear to me that some of those who did attend had not read all the papers, which had been sent to them in advance of the meeting," he said.

He was also aggrieved that not all the information asked for at the meeting was available. Former Hampshire education committee vice-chairman Brian Dash had tried in vain to find out what the exact saving of closing Ampfield would be.

Councillor Dash pointed out that the school's pupil numbers had risen steadily from 61 in 1994-95 to 78 in 2001-2 before it struck what was described as "a leadership crisis" and slumped to its present 23.

"The point I was trying to make was that because sums of money are awarded to rural schools by the Government - I think it is £10,000 in the case of Ampfield - the cost to the county is much lower than some people may have thought.

"I asked for information on that point, but I didn't get an answer," he said.

Romsey MP Sandra Gidley was also disappointed by the outcome of the meeting. She criticised the system whereby the school's future went before the county's education policy review committee, which voted to recommend keeping it open, only to have that recommendation overturned by education executive member Don Allen.

"I also felt very let down by the standard of the debate, which focused on some of the financial facts but, as Councillor Dash discovered, did not have the benefit of all the information.

"We also have to consider the impact on the local community," she said.