PARENTS of children at Hardenhuish and Sheldon Schools in Chippenham have reacted with outrage to being sent literature in favour of The Range by the schools.

They were this week emailed a newsletter published by the firm outlining the “community and economic benefits” of bringing The Range’s southern distribution centre to Chippenham.

After receiving complaints from angry parents, both schools tried to put the perceived blunder right by sending out a second email the following day, in the interests of balance with a link to Rally Against The Range’s website.

Tracey Barrow, Allington, 53, who has a son in year 7 at Sheldon, said: “I was horrified, mortified to receive this and rang straight away to ask for a meeting with the head.

“I find it extraordinary that someone thought this was a good thing to do. Schools should not be acting as an avenue for The Range, they should be concentrating on educating our children, so they can find themselves good jobs, not the minimum wage in a warehouse.

“I don’t think they anticipated it would cause any harm, just didn’t think it through.

“Perhaps it is a good thing though, now 3,000 parents are reading about it.”

Elizabeth Kennedy, part of Allington Action Group campaigning against The Range, said: “I'm all for fair play, but why are the schools now getting involved? Is that why I pay my council tax, so the council can instruct schools to influence? It is basically propaganda.”

Wiltshire Council strongly rejects this claim.

Both schools told the Gazette they have no school view on the proposal.

Neil Spurdell, headteacher at Sheldon, said: “Both Jan and I discussed this and sent the literature out on Tuesday to raise awareness that this was the proposal; we both took a neutral stance. For some, it did not appear that way, which is regrettable, so to make our position clear we sent the subsequent message on Wednesday.

“We also included the link to the planning application as what has transpired is that many parents and people in the community did not know about it. Now that far more people know about the plans can only be a good thing so that those who are affected (positively or negatively) are now furnished with the information and can make their representations accordingly.”

Jan Hatherell, headteacher of Hardenhuish School, said: “The planning link shows the relatively small area of residents that The Range is consulting with directly, and we feel that our wider school communities will be affected by the proposal, and accept that there will be strong views on both sides of any debate.

“Ensuring that our school communities have the information needed to respond appropriately and directly to the planning authority was our only aim, as we have both made clear to our parents.”

The Range has denied any involvement in the schools’ distribution.

A spokesman for their planning consultants Turley said: “We distributed 1,500 newsletters to properties in Chippenham in late December. We have not been in contact with any organisations with regards to distributing the newsletter.”

As of Monday, Wiltshire Council had received 561 objections and 12 in support of the application.