An action group fighting the proposed closure of St Martin-in-Meneage School fear it is "a done deal" following a public meeting on Monday.

The board of directors for the Keskowethyans Multi-Academy Trust, which manages the school, sat down with parents and the community three days before the end of a public consultation, which closes midnight tomorrow.

Directors want to seek permission from the Department for Education to shut the school from the end of this school year in July, after pupil numbers dropped to 12. A decision will be taken on Monday.

However, it was claimed after the meeting, which was attended by more than 100 people, that it "seemed like they have already made their minds up," according to local resident Johnny Alston.

Ex pupil Geoffrey Williams agreed: "It was like shutting the door after the horse had bolted - and the horse is many, many fields away now.

"I think everyone was amazed about the incredible lack of communication between the directors and the community over a great number of matters."

One such matter is why parents only heard about the possibility of closing the school in February this year, when it had first been raised two years ago during a professional consultation exercise in January 2015.

Current parent Thomasina Armstrong said: "Waiting until now has just compromised the education of all the children still at the school and the future of the school, and the future of the community."

Zelda Astley, who runs her own school at Gweek for younger children, and has a nine-year-old child at St Martin, said with a good marketing strategy and closer interaction the problem could be turned around. Creating a nursery class - particularly as all three-year-olds can now receive 30 hours of government funded free nursery education - would bolster pupil numbers that would then progress through the school, she added.

Only this year Ofsted rated the school "good with outstanding features."

Ms Astley also raised concerns over the effect such uncertainty was having on the pupils themselves, who have been told they will be taught at Manaccan if the closure goes ahead.

She said: "We've had lots of crying and not wanting to sleep at night because they're worried about where they're going to go to school."

Another parent pointed out that in the consultation document directors state other schools in the trust are having to pick up the shortfall for St Martin, but the August 2016 financial report for Keskowethyans MAT appears to show that while St Martin ended with a deficit of -£9,619, both Manaccan and St Keverne had larger deficits (-£45,569 and -£26,408 respectively).

There is also a concern that St Martin will not be represented at the closed board meeting on Monday, as no directors from the school remain on the board - which has halved in size in recent months, through resignations. However, a former governor of St Martin said it was not the multi-academy trust that was the problem, but parents moving their to children to other schools - losing St Martin roughly £5,000 for each pupil, with the shortfall not made up by the government.

The trust yesterday issued a statement saying: "We are extremely grateful to those parents and community members who attended and shared their views with directors at the consultation meeting and who have sent in written contributions as part of the consultation process. The best interests of the children are at the heart of everything we do and the prospect of the closure of St Martin has always been treated by the directors of Keskowethyans MAT as an option of very last resort.

"It is only now being considered after trialling many initiatives which have not resulted in any increase to the very low pupil numbers. Many of the concerns raised in this article are unfounded and were addressed at the meeting or in the consultation paper.

"Directors will meet on June 26 to consider the consultation responses received, re-consider alternatives to closure and determine whether to proceed, or otherwise, with the proposal to close St Martin. We encourage those who have yet to respond to the consultation paper to do so before the closure of the process on June 22.

"A copy of the consultation paper can be found on the school’s website or collected from any of the school offices."