The fate of three Bristol schools threatened with closure should be clearer by Tuesday night.

The city council was due to debate the future of St George's Church of England, St Pius X Catholic and Stockwood Green primary schools at a meeting this afternoon.

The Labour cabinet announced plans last May to shut the three small schools as part of a city-wide shake-up.

But the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, who outnumber the ruling party, have backed the campaigners battling to keep the primaries open.

Cross-party talks were taking place on Monday.

The aim was to reach a consensus that could form the basis of a motion to the council, giving a clear recommendation to the cabinet which next meets on February 2.

Supporters of St George's were planning to stage a demonstration outside the Council House today and representatives of the other two schools were expected to address the full council.

Parents, staff and pupils have all voiced their views on why the schools should be saved.

Tony Halloran, head teacher of St Pius and deputy chairman of Bristol Primary Heads' Association, said he hoped councillors would take note of the arguments put forward for saving the schools and the strength of opinion expressed.

Lib Dem councillor Mark Wright, a former pupil of St Pius and a governor at St George's, said the closure plans were based on the flimsiest of arguments.

"It's over six months since this was first proposed, and in all that time we haven't seen a shred of evidence showing how or why this will lead to an improvement in the education of the children involved," he said.

Dr Wright called on the cabinet to admit it had made errors in its review of the city's 110 primary sector schools and to accept a cross-party consensus on the best way to proceed with the strategy.

The Conservatives, who successfully "called in" the closures decision, have been continuing to put pressure on cabinet councillor Peter Hammond and his officers to resolve the situation, not least because £12 million of Government funding for other primary school rebuilding depends upon it.

The council has to resubmit its primary schools strategy to the Department for Children, Schools and Families by the end of this month.

It was one of 15 out of 148 local authorities to be told in November that further work was needed before funding could be released.

The rest of the primary review proposals were agreed by the cabinet in September.