A UNION has criticised a North-East secondary school for pursuing plans to expand at the expense of a struggling neighbour.

Governors at Hurworth School, near Darlington, are pressing ahead with plans to expand by a third to a 900-pupil foundation school free from local authority control.

Under this plan, top-performing Hurworth would take 300 pupils from troubled Eastbourne Comprehensive - rendering it obsolete and forcing its closure.

The move by the governors comes as a reaction to Darlington Borough Council's plans to close Hurworth and merge it with Eastbourne in a £25m Church of England sponsored academy on the edge of the town.

Yesterday, Unison criticised the Hurworth proposals.

Alan Docherty, Unison branch secretary for Darlington, said: "Any changes to the size of schools should be planned on a borough-wide basis in order to manage falling pupil numbers and surplus places.

"We are totally opposed to one school unilaterally increasing its numbers. That will have an impact on staff in other schools and put them at a disadvantage.

"We want fairness and equality for all staff in all Darlington's schools."

However, at a recent meeting of a council scrutiny committee, the same union also criticised the council's academy plan, saying it was against the idea of academies.

Last week, leader of the council John Williams said the plans would be disastrous for Darlington's schools.

He asked what would happen to the 300 other children if Eastbourne School closed, branded the plan "educational cleansing by social class" and vowed it would never go ahead.

Last night, officials at Hurworth declined to comment.