A COUNCIL leader at the centre of a controversial schools merger has defended a promise that he made to parents a decade ago.

In 1995 Councillor John Williams, now leader of Darlington Borough Council, wrote to all parents at Hurworth School, near Darlington, reassuring them that the new unitary Darlington Council would not close the school.

However last year his council announced plans to close Hurworth and Eastbourne Comprehensive in Darlington and merge them into a £25m Church of England-sponsored academy on the edge of Darlington. The plan has provoked fury in the village of Hurworth.

In November 1995, Mr Williams wrote: "There can be no question of the new Darlington unitary borough council closing Hurworth School: the school is full to capacity.

"Far from closing schools, we will be seeking to enhance them. I repeat and reinforce these pledges to you now."

At the bottom of the letter - in capital letters and underlined - Mr Williams wrote: "The new Darlington 'unitary' Borough Council will not close Hurworth School."

At a heated meeting of parents in Hurworth village on Tuesday - which was attended by three council executives, Ada Burns, the council chief executive, read a statement from Mr Williams.

It admitted that Hurworth would close, but said: "My support for a new academy for Hurworth and Eastbourne is entirely consistent with the comments in my letter written in 1995. It would have been impossible in 1995 to foresee that the establishment of a academy would result in the closure of the school.

"The proposed academy would mean that both schools would technically close.

"I view the academy as an expansion of Hurworth School's excellence on a site that will be at the heart of the community it serves."

The letter was written two years before the council assumed control of schools in Darlington.

Last night Ian Holme, spokesman for campaign group Share, which is trying to keep Hurworth in its village location, said: "When did a council pledge come with an expiry date? How can headteachers or parents trust what Mr Williams, or his council says?"

Hurworth governors have come up with an alternative proposal to expand the school on its current site and free it from council control.

Council bosses will carry out a public consultation before they put in an official bid for the academy with the Department for Education and Skills.