Two closure-threatened schools in the Western Isles narrowly escaped the axe last night - but the stay of execution may only last a week.

Councillors voted to close Bayble secondary school on Lewis but were thwarted by the clergy on the education committee.

Bayble, along with Daliburgh in South Uist, is the first of five rural secondaries across the Hebrides facing closure.

With votes from the representatives of the islands' Catholic and Protestant churches, the closure of Bayble was postponed until a decision is made on the fate of the other three schools on the list.

With only a one-vote majority at last night's meeting, Daliburgh school seemed set for closure when Free Presbyterian minister David Campbell had to leave after a four-hour debate. But, in the spirit of fairness, councillors who voted to close Bayble abstained in the second call.

However, the reprieves are expected to be shortlived. They are set to be vetoed by a meeting of the full council next week and the schools could still shut this summer.

If the closures are given the go-ahead, Education Minister Fiona Hyslop would still have to approve the closure of Daliburgh because the distance to the receiving school, Sgoil Lionacleit on Benbecula, is 21 miles. The maximum allowed without referral to ministers is 10 miles. Bayble, however, is seven miles from the Nicolson Institute in Stornoway.

Ms Hyslop has indicated her opposition to the closures and may well intervene to save Daliburgh.

A report by the education department, presented for councillors yesterday, stated: "In recent years the roll of the Secondary Department of Daliburgh School has been consistently low. This affects educational viability and there is a consequent implication for pupil costs."

According to the report, the 22 pupils in Daliburgh's secondary department cost £24,745 a year each compared with the Scottish average of £4675.

There is considerable parental opposition to the closure programme, but falling school rolls are having an impact across the islands.

An an earlier report said: "It can be seen that the total cohort has fallen each year, virtually without exception, from 6315 in 1977 to 3850 in 2007. Based on current information all projections indicate, unfortunately, that this trend is set to continue. "

Murdo Macleod, the director of education, insists the two secondaries will place the island pupils at a disadvantage, being virtually the only ones in Scotland to change schools at the end of S2, a crucial point in the new curriculum.