A LETTER has been sent to a governor of Duchy Manor Middle School, Mere, asking him if he will be continuing in his role - when in fact the school is closing down.

To make matters worse, the letter has come from education authority Wiltshire county council, which, said the governor, has been at the centre of the process to close the school and Wiltshire's four other middle schools, in Tisbury, Wilton and Salisbury.

The decision to scrap the three-tier education system in Wiltshire and replace it with a two-tier one was taken in January last year and followed three years of consultation and dozens of meetings.

The schools are due to close in August.

Howard Smith, a local education authority governor at Duchy Manor, said he was furious when he received the letter, which reads: "I note from our database that the term of office for you will be expiring soon and I enclose a copy of the governing body record sheet for your school highlighting your name.

"In order to maximise efficiency and maintain the most up-to-date records wherever possible for all governing bodies, I would be grateful if you would kindly advise whether you will be reappointed or if someone else will be appointed in your place."

It is signed by Swapnil Mittal, governor support team.

Mr Smith said that, since the subject of closing the middle schools was first raised nearly five years ago, nobody from county hall had expressed any regret to Duchy Manor's governing body over what had happened.

"This letter has come from the governor support team, but we have had no support from them," he said.

"They do not even know we are on our way out!"

A spokesman for Wiltshire county council said: "This was an honest mistake and we apologise for any offence caused to Mr Smith.

"We have taken action to ensure the mistake is not repeated and will be writing to Mr Smith to apologise.

"There are about 3,500 school governors in Wiltshire and it is the county council's responsibility to remind all local education authority-appointed governors that their term of office is due to expire and invite them to reapply."