Brighton and Hove City Council should learn a lesson from what happened over its plan to merge the two Balfour schools.

There were perfectly good reasons for the merger. All-through primary schools provide a seamless form of education for pupils and more opportunities for teachers.

In the Balfour case, the new school would also have ended problems caused by the infant school being bigger than the junior school.

But parents, teachers and governors made it clear to the council the majority opinion was against the move.

The main reason was an overall reduced intake at these popular schools.

Despite this, the council went ahead but a Government adjudicator has now ruled against it.

Councillors are disappointed the decision has gone against them but they have only themselves to blame.

Next time they should listen more closely to what people are saying.