A public meeting where community leaders will draw up battle plans to keep Hurworth Maths and Computing College in the village takes place tonight (Thursday).

Residents are expected to turn out in force to voice their disapproval at plans to relocate their successful secondary school.

The meeting starts at 7.30pm in the village hall, with doors opening at 7pm.

Hurworth parish council agreed to stage the event after dozens of people packed a meeting on Tuesday last week to discuss Darlington Borough Council's controversial proposals.

The authority wants to close Hurworth school and Eastbourne Comprehensive, and amalgamate the two in a new £20m project.

The new Hurworth School would be built at the top of Yarm Road, Darlington, and accommodate 1,200 pupils.

But the plans to remove the school from Hurworth village have sparked uproar there.

Hurworth governors have urged council bosses to consider preserving the school in the village.

Chairman of governors Robin Mair said in a statement after a meeting last Friday: "To assist it (the board) to reach a conclusion, it requests the authority to fully evaluate rebuilding Hurworth School on the existing site and expanding its capacity to meet future needs."

Such a move would be likely to win support in the village.

Mr Mair said a further statement would be made once a response had been received from the council and considered by the governing body. But the borough council appeared to rule out the suggestion immediately. A spokeswoman said: "We have looked at that option and we can supply the governors with our evaluation of why we are proposing a 1,200-place school on a new site."

Town hall bosses are guaranteed to receive £20m of Government funding for a new school by 2011. But they are putting pressure on the Department for Education and Skills to release the money sooner, to allow the project to press ahead.

Eamonn Farrar, acting headteacher of Eastbourne and also a former Hurworth head, has again pledged his backing for the possible development.

Mr Farrar is being lined up to become a new education chief to drive up declining standards in Darlington's schools. He said: "Eastbourne is one of those in most need of the kind of support I'm going to offer.

"Everybody is fully aware of just how important it is that the school doesn't fall away again."