Education bosses will decide whether to take the next step in shutting a struggling school for good next month.

Councillors will meet on December 1 to discuss the proposed closure of East Brighton College of Media Arts (Comart).

Despite parent protests, a report on recent consultation recommends the school should be shut because of falling pupil numbers and poor exam results.

Schools councillor Pat Hawkes said: "We have now consulted widely and in great detail.

"The message we've received is that most east Brighton parents don't want to send their children to Comart and are voting with their feet.

"Our officers have looked at other possible models for the college and haven't found one that offers a viable long-term future.

"We're committed to providing equal educational opportunities for all our children. Sadly, we may have to recognise that we can better achieve this if Comart closes."

According to the report, parents have lost confidence in the school and many now opt to send their children to others in the city.

Comart is currently half full, with pupil numbers continuing to plummet and council officials have predicted that by 2010, all the city's secondary pupils will be able to go to the nine other secondary schools with space to spare.

The report also reveals that a small school option would not work after studying other examples.

Most were found to be performing poorly and several were under threat of closure.

Coun Hawkes said: "I believe we should agree to give formal notice proposing to close Comart.

"If we do that, there will be an opportunity for us to consider the position again early in February, when we have received the representations in response to the notice and before we decide whether or not to refer the matter to the School Organisation Committee for a decision."

A decision to publish statutory notices of closure, if taken by the committee, is not the same as closing the school.

Brighton and Hove City Council, as the Local Education Authority, does not make the final decision on the future of Comart if there are any objections.

That would be taken by the city's School Organisation Committee, possibly in late February, which would consider the proposal and the representations received by the council in response to the notice.

If members could not make a unanimous decision, the proposal would then need to be referred to an adjudicator appointed by the Secretary of State.