MADAM, the Chairman of Governors of Hope-under-Dinmore primary school, whose letter you published on June 13, continues to repeat the claim that village schools in Herefordshire are under threat. They are not.

Village schools are among the priceless assets of our delightful, rural county.

They are highly valued and will survive falling rolls. They are not under threat from Herefordshire Council.

I say that not only from my position as Cabinet Member for Education, but also as the councillor for a rural area around Ledbury, which contains many excellent village schools, including Much Marcle primary school of which I am proud to be a governor.

The situation at Hope-under Dinmore, however, is highly exceptional.

Sadly, it is no longer a school situated in its village. It has limited premises, located - with a single house and the church - on the wrong side of the Hereford to Leominster trunk road. The nearest other houses are 300 yards away on the other side of the main road. The school has only 22 pupils, as the majority of local parents prefer to send their children to the more attractive village schools nearby because of much better premises and larger class groupings in which children can have several friends of their own age.

The national adjudicator has decided that, notwithstanding the school's many drawbacks, Hope-under-Dinmore primary school should remain open.

The council will, therefore, continue to support the school in the normal way, as it does for all other schools in the county.

Mr Ramsay now needs to concentrate on the formidable task that faces the school in convincing its local community that it deserves their full-hearted support.

COUNCILLOR D W RULE, MBE

Herefordshire Council,

Cabinet Member (Education)

Marcle Ridge Ward.