DUNFERMLINE singing legend Barbara Dickson has described the decision to close her old school Pitcorthie Primary as “completely nuts”.

As a child Barbara was educated at Camdean Primary in Rosyth and then Pitcorthie when her family moved to Dunfermline.

The controversial decision to close the school – which has one of the highest occupancy rates in Fife – has left her baffled.

Barbara told the Press, “They’re going to close it down and I just don’t understand the thinking behind it. What are they going to do with all those children?

“I don’t understand the politics of this kind of thing. It seems to me to be completely nuts.

“That’s a massive residential area so what is wrong with having a primary school there?

"Anybody with young children wants to send them to the primary school that’s near to their house.

“That’s what everybody does and that’s what keeps standards up, the commitment of the parents.

“If people want that then they should be able to do it. I can’t understand why they’re closing that school.” More than 2000 people signed a petition recently to save the school and the closure was a key issue in the Dunfermline by-election where successful candidate Cara Hilton backed the parents’ campaign.

The decision to close Pitcorthie, Wellwood and Crombie was announced last April.

Initially the council argued that the poor state of the building was the reason for closure but later the decision was put down to over-capacity in the school estate in the area.

The proposed closure of Pitcorthie Primary has been particularly controversial given it is an obviously popular school with an occupancy level of 96 per cent, the second highest in Fife.

The Press revealed the closure will require £3.9 million to be spent on other schools affected by the move.

There would be more than £1.5 million spent on Commercial, Lynburn and Touch primaries where the Pitcorthie pupils would move to when their school closes. There would also be a new nursery facility built at Lynburn at a cost of £1.4 million.

A further £910,000 would be spent on Camdean Primary in Rosyth which would become the new home of the behaviour support service currently based at Lynburn.