EDUCATION chiefs in Darlington have defended their decision to begin the Easter holidays a week later than neighbouring authorities.

A teaching union is understood to have received complaints from teachers who live in Durham, North Yorkshire, or Teesside, and who teach in Darlington, about the different holidays, which make family holidays and childcare difficult for them.

In Durham and North Yorkshire, school holidays begin on Friday and finish on April 20. But in Darlington they begin on Friday, April 9, and finish on April 26.

Last night, Darlington Borough Council said it had chosen the dates to make teaching more consistent by keeping the spring term and the summer term roughly the same length.

But education officials at Durham County Council said they tried to check with neighbouring authorities before choosing their holiday dates.

Chris Taylor, Darlington branch secretary of the National Union of Teachers, and head of Mowden Infant School, said: "If teachers live in different authorities then it can be awkward. I am pretty sure that all the authorities in the Northern region will soon get their act together for the school year from 2005 to 2006 and bring all the holidays into line.

"There are different patterns in the North-East and it can create problems. I think the only authority in the region which has the same holidays as Darlington is Hartlepool."

A spokesman for Darlington Borough Council said: "The reason that the school holidays are different is to make the actual length of the terms more even and to help planning, which will in turn help the teachers and pupils.

"It is a technical thing, so the terms are a more even length and teachers can plan their lessons better.

"I am sure that we do consider the holidays of neighbouring local authorities, but our prime concern is for the pupils that we are teaching."

A Durham County Council spokesman said: "This sort of thing can happen and create problems, that is why when we are looking at terms we try to take into consideration the regional picture. It can create difficulties for families when school terms are not compatible."