Proposals to merge two schools were dealt a blow after an independent committee failed to agree to the scheme.

The Schools Organisation Committee met last night to discuss creating an all-through primary school from the existing Balfour infant and junior schools in Brighton.

The committee voted three to one in favour of the proposals but under guidelines set by the Department of Education, the decision has to be unanimous.

The plans will now be forwarded to an independent adjudicator appointed by Education Secretary Estelle Morris.

The committee is not part of Brighton and Hove City Council but made up of representatives from Brighton and Hove Education Authority, the Chichester Diocesan Board of Education, the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton Catholic Schools Service and Brighton and Hove Governors' network.

It was the governors' network which voted against the plans.

Vanessa Brown, opposition spokesman for education on the council, said: "I am absolutely delighted at the result. It is a victory for common sense and democracy.

"With the weight of public opposition and the weak arguments for the merger it should never have got as far as the committee."

Alec Potter, chairman of the Balfour Action Group Against Merger, said: "We are naturally delighted and are very pleased it was the governors' decision which swung it.

"We are disappointed that this has to go on to an adjudicator.

"However, we will continue to keep a close eye on developments."

Committee chairman and city councillor Pat Hawkes said: "I am disappointed. If the merger does not go ahead we are faced with the difficult prospect of overcrowding in the classrooms and children in the infant school finding it difficult to move on to the junior school because there is no space for them."

During the meeting parent Ann Fletcher said: "Class sizes at the junior school are set at 35 at the moment but are usually nearer 36 or 37 because some parents successfully appeal and their child gets in.

"The large classes are unacceptable and unfair both to the children and the teachers."

Another parent, Susan Hayes, said: "There are no winners and only losers in the annual scramble for places at the junior school."

The adjudicator is expected to reach a decision in about six weeks time. If he or she gives the go ahead for the merger then the new school could still open next September.