A PROTEST will be held outside the council offices in Aberystwyth on Tuesday as a popular Penglais School art teacher appeals his controversial sacking.

It was reported in the Cambrian News in July that the secondary school’s head of art, Richard Edwards, had been sacked for gross misconduct following a disciplinary hearing, despite a petition to save his job gaining more than 1,400 signatures within days.

Following the decision to dismiss Mr Edwards — also known as Mr Ed, or Ed — pupils staged a walk-out in protest, with a video appearing on social media showing the pupils fleeing as two uniformed police officers walked towards them.

The Cambrian News can reveal that Mr Edwards will attend an appeal hearing at Ceredigion County Council’s Canolfan Rheidol offices on Tuesday morning, with a group called ‘Supporting Mr Ed’ vowing to hold a “peaceful protest” outside the offices from 8.30am.

“I want the panel to take notice of 30 years of teaching with an impeccable reputation, who in the last six months has been cast aside,” said protest organiser Lesley Jeffreys, from Furnace, whose daughter was taught by Mr Edwards.

“It is a decision which nobody can fathom and doesn’t make any sense.

“I would ask the panel to read through the comments on the petition, look at the level of support for Ed. Go into the community, go into the school, talk to the kids.

“Ask questions of the real people who are affected by the loss of such a great man.”

To find out more about the protest, visit: www.facebook.com/groups/1652898205023760/.