Mr Kawczynski said a lack of funding is causing serious problems

Daniel Kawczynski's comments come as Shropshire County Council plans to close or merge up to 20 schools.

The Conservative MP for Shrewsbury said there were huge differences in funding in different parts of the country.

He said: "One head teacher has told me that he won't be turning on the heating until later in January because he can't afford to do so".

"As the 4th wealthiest country in the world, that's simply not acceptable", he said.

Commons debate

Mr Kawczynski said he has approached the Speaker of the Commons to try to secure an urgent debate on why there are such huge variations in funding for schools.

He said Shropshire, which is 145th out of 149 areas in the country, is not getting a fair deal.

Shropshire County Council has published an 11-stage plan which will be used to reorganise its 141 primary schools.

Education officials claim change is needed because of declining pupil numbers and funding pressures.