The demise of a school which produced three sitting MPs will be explained in an upcoming talk.

In 1938 Buckhurst Hill County High welcomed in its first cohort.

Just over half a century later, the grammar school shut for good.

While its operational life was a relatively short one, over the course of 51 years it produced a host of notable alumni from the 4,500 students that passed through its halls.

Amongst them are Stephen Metcalfe, MP for South Basildon and Thurrock, Mike Gapes, MP for Ilford South, and Sir David Evennett, MP for Bexleyheath and Crayford.

The stories of these politicians and roughly 90 per cent of school's total cohort have been collected by Graham Frankel, a County High boy in the 1960s.

Since 1999 the HR consultant has been researching the school's leavers and tracing its decline.

The 68 year-old said: "It was a successful school until the 1970s when Redbridge Council introduced their policy to stop pupils going to schools outside the borough.

"When that happened the school knew that it had to turn into a comprehensive."

With several other non-selective state schools to compete against, College Hill struggled to find a place in the educational landscape of Chigwell - where the school was confusingly based.

With "many other factors" helping it on its way to closure, the full story will be told by Mr Frankel on September 25.

The presentation starts at 2pm at Loughton Library, Trap's Hill.

Entry is free.