Parents were furious at Mayplace Primary School’s proposals that would have closed a pathway that has been “used for 40 years.”

Planning permission was granted at the end of last year that involved extending the school’s car park, potentially closing the path.

A petition had been started calling on the council to block Mayplace Primary School’s proposal so as to keep the Oakwood Rive pedestrian access open.

More than 300 people signed the petition, which reads: “As part of The Primary First Trust’s expansion plans at Mayplace Primary School there has been a submission for new staff car parking spaces at the top gate by the Oakwood Drive Pedestrian Access.

“The existing Oakwood Drive Pedestrian Access has been used for about 40 years and helps alleviate traffic from Woodside Road which is a congestion hotspot, if it were to close as part of the school’s new expansion plans (which in turn would also bring in more traffic in way of new students) it would adversely affect Woodside Road and turn it into a bottleneck to funnel all existing and future traffic to and from the school.”

The petition, which was addressed to the Council’s planning department, refers to an expansion plan that was given the greenlight in October so the school could take on extra pupils.

A spokesman for the council said the head teacher has since committed to keeping the gates open.

A spokesman said: “The Council has never had any plans to close the Oakwood Drive pedestrian gate to Mayplace School.

“This is a decision that was taken by the school and we understand that the head teacher has now written to parents to clarify the situation and has made a commitment  to keep the gate open.

“Parents should speak to the school if they have concerns as the original decision  to close the gate had nothing to do with the council.”