A council has admitted it is considering closing the Government's first Fresh Start school just weeks after its super-head quit.

Firfield Community School, in Newcastle, is facing a possible budget deficit of more than £200,000 and has issued redundancy warning notices for three-and-a half teaching positions.

Last month, headteacher Carol McA1pine resigned and the job was advertised for £70,000, a salary £15,000 higher because of the "challenging situation" the school faced.

Newcastle City Council advertised the position three weeks ago, and four people have applied for the job.

Mrs McAlpine quit after 18 months as head of the problem-ridden school, claiming she had been set unrealistic targets.

She was drafted in by education chiefs with the aim of turning around the fortunes of the school, formerly known as Blakelaw Comprehensive, which had one of the worst performance records in the city.

She has taken up a management post in a Norfolk Education Action Zone, even though governors at Firfield had no idea she was applying for the new position.

Any decision to close the school now would come as a major embarrassment to Education Secretary David Blunkett after the Government allocated more than £2.5m to trying to turn around the school.

Just two years ago, Firfield was named as the Government's first Fresh Start school in an initiative designed to drive up standards in failing schools.

But teachers claimed they were demoralised after appearing in a Channel 4 fly on-the-wall documentary last November. It showed Mrs McA1pine belittling teachers, and parents beating children in the street and failing to send them to school.

A city council spokeswoman said that closure was one option being considered. Amalgamation was another.

She said: "Since the Channel 4 programme, a lot of faith has been lost in Firfield in the community.

"We don't know what the future of the school is at the moment. If we decide to keep the school then we will need a headteacher."

Councillor Keith Taylor, the council's cabinet member for lifelong learning, said: "The governors have passed on their concerns to the authority and we will go back after Easter with some proposals."

Fewer than 50 primary school pupils have picked Firfield as their first choice in September, against a target of 170.

A Department for Education spokesman said: "We have had discussions with the LEA about the future of the school and these will continue, but this is a matter for the LEA."