AN EDUCATOR has slated the proposed re-organisation of Dorset schools as "lunatic" when the results of other major changes are still unknown.

He also criticised education chiefs for attacking towns piecemeal instead of looking at Dorset as a whole.

And further scorn has been poured on the figures County Hall is using to justify closing Blandford's middle schools.

Former head teacher Haydn White told Blandford Town Council that the proposal to revert to a two-tier system went against research which showed that nine and 13, and not 11, were the ideal times for change.

"Between nine and 13 there is an interplay between concrete and abstract thought," he said.

There was also a national debate about education between the ages of 14 and 19 which could bring in radical change soon.

Meanwhile, Cllr Mike Oram said it was strange to be making such a change in Blandford, home of Blandford Camp, at a time when the future of the army was under review. It would expand if it became tri-service, increasing numbers considerably, he said.

Cllr White said: "It is a lunatic time to be doing this, with so many balls in the air."

Mr White said Sturminster Newton High could become a middle school which would feed both Blandford and Shaftesbury, making both their sixth forms viable.

"I indict this county for not looking at the whole of the problem," he said.

"What I find scandalous is they weren't prepared to have an open discussion. First it was Shaftesbury, now it's Blandford and it will be Purbeck next."

District councillor John Tanner questioned the figures again.

"The pre-schools are bursting at the seams - there are 112 of school age and below and that's a number increasing every year," he said.

"That's in the local plan. They (the county) have never published their methodology and they have cherry-picked the numbers. The camp could produce 100 to 150 children. Added to the 112 in Blandford that could produce 200 plus a year and they're talking about knocking off 500 places. The figures just don't stack up."

Mayor Lynn Lindsay said the NHS local plan for Dorset and Somerset showed a 3.1 per cent growth in population in North Dorset.