EDUCATION campaigners have pledged to voice their anger at plans for a £25m city academy in Darlington, when council chiefs meet next week.

Darlington Borough Council has been invited to pursue Government funding that could bring Hurworth School and Eastbourne Comprehensive together in a privately-sponsored academy.

The 1,200-pupil school would be built at the top end of Yarm Road, in Darlington, close to the Cummins Engines factory.

But the proposals have been condemned by residents of Hurworth, where an action group is fighting to preserve the secondary school in its village location.

However, the project is expected to take a step forward on Tuesday, when council cabinet members meet in the town hall.

A report from the children's services director, Margaret Asquith, is urging them to "agree that an expression of interest for an academy in Darlington should be developed". This would involve explaining how an academy fits into overall secondary education plans in the borough, its vision for the future, a projected timetable and details of the preferred site.

A private sponsor must also be sought to back the project and contribute up to £2m towards it.

Ms Asquith's report says an academy would allow the "excellent performance and high standards of attainment in Hurworth to support the strong drive to raise attainment in Eastbourne".

It adds that the development would solve Darlington's problems with falling pupil rolls.

The report also says: "It will be vital that people have opportunities to be informed about the development of the proposal and contribute their views through formal consultation."

But the Save Hurworth and Rural Education (Share) campaign group urged councillors to reject the idea.

Share spokesman Ian Holme said: "We'll certainly have a presence at the meeting. They have to understand that nobody is going to take this lying down.

"We would hope that the majority of Labour councillors would oppose academies on principle anyway.

"It's only a very small element that appears to be in support of them."

If the expression of interest is approved, there would be a feasibility study taking up to three months and then a six-month consultation period.