PARENTS fear a Banbury faith school could be at risk of closure if proposals to scrap free transport get approved.

Blessed George Napier could see the number of pupils cut by up to a third if parents are forced to pay £1,200 to get their children to school.

About 800 children attend the school in Addison Road, but up to 300 are bussed in from Bicester and surrounding villages.

Earlier this month Oxfordshire County Council transport chiefs announced a proposal to cancel school buses to single-faith schools in a bid to cut costs. But the move has angered the school and parents who have vowed to “strongly resist” the proposal.

They say scrapping the service affects a parents’ right to choose a school based on religious belief, fails to promote diversity and choice for parents and raised concerns about the future viability of the school.

At a meeting at the school on Monday night, parents pledged to bombard the council with letters objecting to the changes.

In a statement, head teacher Catherine Weaver said: “As the only secondary school with a religious character in North Oxfordshire we are dismayed to discover that our well established transport arrangements are now under threat.

“We will strongly resist the county council’s proposed changes to end subsidised travel to schools of a religious character, a proposal which strikes at the heart of all we have worked so hard to achieve in the last 49 years.”

Father-of-three Karl Jones, 38, of Thames Avenue, Bicester, said by 2012 parents would have to pay £1,200 a year for school transport — a rise of £960 per child.

He said: “If it’s that expensive children can’t go there and the school ceases to be viable. If you can’t get enough Catholic children and it’s just an overflow for children in Banbury the church will withdraw its funding.”

He said the alternative would be hundreds of parents driving to the school causing chaos for residents.

Mum-of-three Amanda Cassidy, 38, of Southwold, Bicester, added: “There will be a snowball effect on BGN if 250 children can’t get there.”

The county council proposes to stop single-faith schools receiving the service from September 2011 and says the measure would save £640,000 by 2015.

Historically, it has always provided free transport to children in faith schools, despite not having to legally.

Children who already receive free transport will continue to do so until they leave school and students starting school this September will not be affected either.

A spokesman for the council said: “Oxfordshire is one of the few remaining parts of the UK that pays for free home-to-school transport for faith schools. There is no legal obligation do to this.”

The consultation period has been extended to noon on April 26 and a decision will be made by the cabinet in May.