An independent school has sparked a classroom crisis after announcing its closure.

West Sussex County Council education officials say they have no idea how many pupils they might have to find places for following the demise of Sandhurst School in Worthing.

Some of the 60 or so children still on the register are expected to move to other private schools in the area, leaving an unknown number looking for spaces in the state system.

But many of the town's schools are already full, with others, such as Thomas a Becket Middle, oversubscribed.

Sandhurst, in Brighton Road, opposite the Aquarena swimming pool, will shut on July 10 at the end of the summer term.

Parents said pupil numbers had halved in recent years from 120 to around 60.

Now concerned mums and dads have been invited to a meeting at the school which is likely to be attended by a county education official.

A spokesman for Sandhurst said staff at the school, a charity run by the Gilmour-Colquhoun Trust, had looked at mergers and ways of getting extra money to stay open.

Sandhurst, which took pupils from the ages of two-and-a-half to 13, was renowned throughout Worthing for the smartness of its students, who wore immaculate dark blue blazers and hats.

Parents worried about their children's education should contact the county council's schools' admissions team on 0845 0751007.