EDUCATION chiefs in Darlington have announced plans to close Beaumont Hill special school and move it to two new sites.

The plan involves building a new primary school next to Springfield and a secondary school close to Haughton community school.

Also included in the £10.2m scheme is replacing the ageing Harrowgate Hill infants' school and refurbishment work at Springfield and Haughton. A new school to house Harrowgate Hill infants' will be built next to the recently opened junior school building.

Mr David Staples, assistant director of education in Darlington, said the driving force behind the plan for Beaumont Hill was inclusion.

He said: "We want to ensure that all children have the same sort of facilities available to them. We want as many pupils as possible to be able to go to their local schools and have the same opportunities for education as everybody else."

The plan hinges on a bid by Darlington Borough Council to unlock £10.2m from the Department for Education under its private finance initiative.

This involves a private company carrying out the building work and improvements and providing services such as maintenance, cleanining and repairs over a 25-year contract.

The council would pay that company a specified annual sum out of additional revenue funding spread over the time of the contract.

The council has appointed consultants Deloitte and Touche to help prepare an outline business case as part of the bid. If approved, the council aims to meet the government's target of starting in 2002-03 financial year.

Mr Staples said it was too early to speculate about what would happen to the existing Beaumont Hill school buildings if the council's bid was successful.

He said: "It is still early days and we have a long way to go before any decision like that will be considered. What we are concentrating on at present is getting the outline business case ready for October."