SCHOOLS should be able to opt out of local authority control to keep themselves open, the leader of the Welsh Conservatives has said.

In an exclusive interview with The Brecon & Radnor Express Andrew RT Davies has promised to allow parents and teachers the freedom to take over schools.

Mr Davies, who is pushing to become the first leader of a party other than Labour to form a Welsh Government, said the policy would offer a lifeline to schools listed for closure by local authorities.

The Conservatives hope the promise with less than 10 weeks to go before voters head for the polls across Wales will prove attractive to parents and teachers in Powys.

The council is currently consulting on closing four secondary schools and three village primary schools.

"What we’re saying as Welsh Conservatives is that we believe the best people to deliver education are the teachers, are the governors, are the parents within that school environment and if they’re confident they can put a business plan together and deliver the national curriculum we will fund them directly from the Welsh Government straight to the school.

"So every penny goes into that school rather than being top sliced at county hall for administrative purposes."

In the interview Mr Davies bluntly states voters would need back the Conservatives all the way to forming the government in Cardiff Bay for his proposals to become a reality.

But the Tory leader insists topping the poll in Wales isn’t out of reach of his party, which only took over from Plaid Cymru as the second largest party in the Assembly at the last election in 2011.

He claimed confidence from last year’s general election, when the Conservatives won 11 seats in Wales, including Brecon and Radnorshire.

The official opposition leader in Cardiff Bay also attacked Brecon and Radnorshire’s sitting AM, the Welsh Lib Dem leader Kirsty Williams.

He accused the Lib Dems and Plaid Cymru of wanting to prop up Labour.

Mr Davies said he proposed establishing a minister for Mid Wales. He said: "Instead of having a Labour government propped up by the Lib Dems and Plaid with a south east focus we would have a Welsh Government that would have a genuine outlook for the whole of Wales.

"That’s why I’m committed to making sure there would be a minister for Mid Wales sitting around my cabinet table, speaking specifically for Mid Wales which obviously is Brecon and Radnorshire."

For the full interview, see Wednesday's Brecon and Radnor Express, on sale March 9