Parents opposed to plans to reorganise schools in Abingdon took their protest to County Hall in Oxford and handed over a petition signed by 1,640 people.

The Dunmore Action Committee also delivered a 50-page report at the education offices in Macclesfield House outlining its opposition to options for the future of Dunmore Junior and Infants School.

The county council has proposed either merging the two schools or linking them with the nearby Fitzharrys senior school, a move opposed by the parents and governors of all three schools.

The merger with Fitzharrys is known as the 3-19 option because it would create an all-in-one school for three to 19-year-olds.

Public consultation on the options finished on Friday.

The council says it will consider carefully all the letters and views expressed at two public meetings and will make a decision next month on the best way forward for the future of the schools.

The education authority denies allegations that it has already made up its mind.

One of the campaigners, Jonathan Hopkins, said: "The large number of signatures on the petition and the 50-page document we submitted demonstrates the depth of feeling there is against the two options being proposed. The council needs to take back the proposals and think again."

Michael Waine, the county council's cabinet member for school improvement, pledged just over a week ago that if consultation showed little support for the 3-19 option, he expected council officers not to recommend it to the cabinet in January.

But, he added, keeping the schools as they were was not an option.