Worried parents claim they could be forced to pull their children out of Dartmouth Academy following its surprise decision to axe breakfast and after-school sessions.

The academy admits there could be redundancies as a result of the closures and claims it has been forced to shut down the daily sessions because they cost too much to run.

But at least one parent whose children use the morning and afternoon clubs says the family could be faced with losing work or finding another school for their children.

Tony Rendle, whose three children, aged 11, nine and seven, are pupils at the academy, is furious that parents have been given just three weeks' notice of the closures

'We use it three mornings and five evenings a week but now we are having to rethink our options,' he said.

'My wife will carry on working. She is a teacher in Torbay but I was looking at taking on additional work in September and that may not happen now.

'We have found a school in Paignton that will take the children but we don't want to do that.

For more on this story see this week's Dartmouth Chronicle.