AS parents fight the closure of Raglan Primary School kitchen and launch a fund-raising drive to carry out improvements, it was revealed that other school kitchens could be under threat.

Monmouthshire County Council confirmed they are cutting the schools meals' budget by £120,000 in the new financial year and £220,000 is expected to be saved by the service in 2012/13. To compound the problem the capital funding the council received during the last three years to upgrade school kitchens is no longer available.

Parents at Raglan School reacted with anger when it was announced just three weeks ago that the kitchen is to close at Easter because it needs too much money spent on meeting health and safety regulations.

The county council has put in a bid for funding from the National Assembly to build a new school in the village but realistically this would not open before 2013, and only if the funding is made available this year.

The decision to close the kitchen has met with widespread condemnation. Top chef Matt Tebbutt  of The Foxhunter Restaurant in Nantyderry said: "Primary school is the best time to try and engage the children in where their food comes from and how it's prepared, so removing the kitchen takes away the link the children have to this process.

 "The local community uses the kitchen and I have used it several times to help fund raise for the school and cook with the children. If the council has its way then that will be the last chance we have to cook with the kids.

"I'm worried about the children eating food that has been prepared in advance and kept warm for an extended period, we should be moving towards fresher, healthier food and I think the council's cost-cutting moves are very short-sighted. "

This Saturday (April 2) the Raglan PTA is holding a Family Foodie Fun event where the final stage of the junior cooking competition will be held where they cook with local chefs, and they judge the infant food craft competition. This is the final stage in a week of activities in the school aimed at helping everyone find out more about the food we eat and how to make it taste great. The chefs from the Clytha Arms, Beaufort Hotel and Llansantffraed Hotel will be the judges, and the event is supported by leading chef Matt Tebbutt and butcher Neil James.

A spokesman for Monmouthshire County Council said: "There are no meals for any other school being prepared at Deri View Primary School, Abergavenny at present. In the past the following schools - Llanover (school closed August 2010), Llanfair Kilgeddin, Gilwern and Goytre - received meals when their kitchens or kitchens they receive food from were refurbished.

"We do not have a list of schools that may close in the future, but staff who work in the school meals service have been told that we have to save £220,000 from the school meals budget in 2012/13 and it may be that the only way to achieve this is to close school kitchens. This was discussed in cabinet as part of the Medium Term Financial Plan.

"The saving in the next financial year's budget is £120,000 which we will achieve from within the existing budget."

 The spokesman added: " There is no policy within Monmouthshire County Council to close kitchens that require work. Over the last three years we have been given capital funding to upgrade school kitchens in need of upgrading.

However that funding is no longer available and therefore any kitchens that require a significant amount of investment to bring them up to an acceptable standard will be reviewed on an individual basis."

 After their meeting last week Raglan Community Council issued a statement criticising the closure of the kitchen at Easter. It read: "Raglan Community Council were dismayed to hear of the intended closure of the school kitchen. They were also concerned with MCC's approach to this as there was no consultation. We feel the closure affects many parties as it is also the Community Centre kitchen, there will be a loss of jobs to the loyal kitchen staff and an increase in food miles bringing in food from Deri View which leads to a loss of nutritional value in the school meals as food kept warm for long periods decreases rapidly in nutrients.

 "The biggest concern we have though is the loss of the Community Centre's ability to cater for a function, i.e Harvest Supper. This limits our ability to hire the hall .We are meeting with MCC to see if a reprieve is possible so that remedial repairs can be carried out but are concerned that MCC policy has made this a done deal.

 "A group of parents are starting a Save our Kitchen Campaign and we fully support them in their endeavour."

Trevor Phillips, chairman of Raglan Village Hall committee explained that when Raglan school was built in the 1980s the committee put in money, as did the community council, to enable the hall and kitchen to be made large enough for community use. This meant badminton can be played in the school hall and the kitchen used for community events like the harvest supper. At the same time the extra money also paid for the car park to be enlarged.

He said: "As far as we know, in those days this was the only dual use building which doubles as a school and community centre so when the kitchen closes it will make it difficult for the Community Centre Management Committee because we understand the equipment will be taken out and reused somewhere else." He said they had sold the old Jeffreys Hall in the village and used some of that money to pay for the larger school hall and kitchen.

David Davies, MP for Monmouth has sympathy for the parents. He said: "Monmouthshire Council has been forced to make these changes because they have a reduced budget for schools for next year. I wish this wasn't necessary but unfortunately due to the financial situation, this is the case.

"One of the parent governors at Raglan School works in my office and I understand she and other parents, together with the school council, are going to inspect the quality of the meals coming in from Deri View. Having one of the parents involved in the office means I am being kept up to date and well informed about the situation."

On Monday Matt Tebbutt was at the school to cook with the children. Jeremy Piper , Raglan Primary School's headteacher said: "Having a professional chef like Matt Tebbutt here is an inspiration for the children. They can see first hand that when ingredients are mixed together it provides us with food. Not only do the pupils find it exciting, it's hands-on with the added bonus that it's also a part of the curriculum.

"This demonstration is taking place in a classroom as we don't get the opportunity to use the school kitchen as it is classed as an industrial unit and out of bounds to children."

• Matt and the Raglan pupils prepare to make leek and potato soup

• Getting all gooed up with Matt Tebbutt are Lucy Baker and Aiden Burgess.