A COMMUNITY school earmarked for closure has vowed to battle on, after councillors narrowly voted to give it the axe.

Dene Community College, in Peterlee, faces closure as part of a £90m scheme to refurbish and repair secondary schools in east Durham, where there are falling rolls.

Yesterday, the Labour group on Durham County Council voted 21 to 19 in favour of shutting Dene Community.

The councillors' decision will now go as a recommendation to the council's cabinet and eventually to the Department for Education and Skills (DfES).

Durham County Council is planning to merge Dene Community with Shotton Hall School, also in Peterlee, in a new £25m school on the Shotton site.

Under the council's plans, Seaham School will also be pulled down and rebuilt.

There will be major refurbishment of schools in Wingate, Easington and Sedgefield and a new sixth-form centre and refurbishment at St Bede's, in Peterlee.

Last night, John Hardy, vice-chairman of governors at Dene community, said: "It is heart-breaking that politically- ambitious vandals, led by Councillor Neil Foster, can attempt to tear the heart out of a community and turn a school into a housing estate just to balance the books."

He called on councillors across the county to back the bid to save the school.

Coun Foster, the county council cabinet member for education, said the plan was part of investment to improve education across the county.

"This is an opportunity for a brand new state-of-the-art secondary school in Peterlee. The campus facilities at Shotton Hall will also include a new primary school," he said.

"I have a lot of sympathy for the school. It is a traumatic experience for teachers, governors and pupils. People get attached to their schools, especially one performing as well as Dene."

Campaigners hope to save the school by bidding for trust status from the DfES.

The £90m comes from a £400m Building Schools for the Future pot of cash to be spent on secondary schools in the county.