A SCHOOL which could be bulldozed to the ground during restructuring should be saved as a new community primary school instead, say its governors.

St Leonards Middle School is putting up a fight to stop Blandford changing from a three-tier pyramid to a two-tier system.

But should that battle fail, St Leonards - which recently had new laboratories built - should be recycled as the town's primary school, they claim.

Chair of governors Carole Sharp said her first choice would be to remain open as a middle school where many children "blossom".

Under the new proposals Archbishop Wake - a Church of England first school - would be rebuilt on the site of the current St Leonards.

This would seriously limit parental choice as Blandford would lose its only non-church school, said Mrs Sharp.

"We want the opportunity of being considered in the same way that others are.

"We feel there has not been a level playing field."

But if reorganisation goes ahead, non-religious St Leonards would be ideal as the new primary, said Mrs Sharp.

"We provide a good education and a caring ethos," she added.

Dorset education chief Phil Farmer said: "We would welcome any suggestion by schools if they feel it (the proposal) is wrong and we will report that back to the cabinet."

Three public consultation meetings will be held at 7pm in the Corn Exchange, Blandford, next Thursday, on March 1 and March 4.

Another meeting will be held at 6.30pm in Winterborne Whitechurch village hall on February 25.