Two Witham academies look set to continue as separate secondary schools.

The consultation by the Academies Enterprise Trust (AET) on the future for Maltings and New Rickstones academies in Witham concluded on Thursday.

The trust was considering merging the schools, but this was heavily criticised by hundreds of parents from both academies.

New Rickstones, in Conrad Road, has 489 pupils – fewer than half its 1,100 capacity.

The school has 115 staff and a yearly budget of £3.4million, compared to Maltings Academy, in Spinks Lane, which has 1,006 pupils, 134 staff and £5.7million budget.

Together, the schools could have had a combined £9million budget and cater for up to 1,600 pupils aged 11 to 18.

However, parents were concerns about transport between the two schools, bullying, freedom of choice and the prospect of their children’s education being adversely affected.