Cwrtnewydd, Llanwenog and Llanwnnen schools to shut

A new area school is to replace three small primaries in Ceredigion as part of a shake-up of education locally.

Ceredigion council's cabinet approved the closure of Cwrtnewydd, Llanwenog and Llanwnnen schools near Lampeter.

The authority intends to build its new area school in nearby Drefach.

The council first announced its intention to shut the three schools in 2011 and has said previously that pupil costs and empty places has forced it to re-examine its education policy.

Ceredigion also plans to shut Tregaron and Llanddewi Brefi primaries and their pupils could switch to Tregaron Secondary School, which could also lose its sixth form.

Comedian Matt Lucas is supporting a campaign to save the school in Llanddewi Brefi, where his character Daffyd from the Little Britain TV series was based.

Lucas wrote to the school in June saying he hoped it would stay open "to support the local community".