THE Prime Minister and his former Health Secretary have stepped in to find a compromise to an escalating row over the future of two schools, The Northern Echo can reveal.

Darlington Borough Council has backed down on plans to force Hurworth School and Eastbourne Comprehensive into a £25m academy.

Hurworth School will be spared closure and allowed to remain in its village location near Darlington.

Meanwhile, the council will press ahead with plans to bring a standalone Church of England academy to Darlington, for Eastbourne Comprehensive only, on a site off Yarm Road.

The compromise was brokered at a meeting chaired by Darlington MP Alan Milburn.

It was attended by council chief executive Ada Burns, head of children's services Margaret Asquith, council leader John Williams, Hurworth's chief executive Eamonn Farrar, headteacher Dean Judson and chairwoman of governors Sam Jameson.

It came about after a secret meeting between Mr Milburn and Tony Blair, whose Sedgefield constituency includes Hurworth, and a day after the Prime Minister won a vote in the House of Commons on the Education Bill.

The dispute in Darlington was becomingly increasingly embarrassing for the Prime Minister as the Bill promised that popular and successful schools would be allowed to expand and be given more freedom.

Hurworth School and the village community had fought the merger plans, which were revealed last June.

Yesterday, both Mr Blair and Mr Milburn hailed the compromise as a way forward.

Mr Blair, who was in the region, said: "I very much welcome the fact that a way forward has been found to maintain the excellence at Hurworth and I welcome the prospect of an academy in Eastbourne. I would like to thank Alan Milburn for helping sort this out."

Mr Milburn said: "I have felt for some time that nobody was winning from the current impasse. There was huge uncertainty for parents and pupils at Hurworth and Eastbourne. We had to find a way through it.

"This is a commonsense way forward and represents a win-win situation for Hurworth and Eastbourne."

He added: "Everyone engaged in this debate has wanted to see a fair deal for all of Darlington's schoolchildren and this provides a way forward to guarantee that.

"It means we can strive for excellence in every school in the borough."

The original merger plan was put forward to solve the problem of falling rolls in Darlington.

The council has said that at least one of the town's seven secondary schools needs to close in the next decade.

Yesterday's news will raise questions over the future of Longfield and Branksome schools, because Hummersknott, Carmel and the Education Village have all been given significant investment.

Darlington Borough Council and Hurworth School issued a joint statement yesterday.

It said: "The council has listened carefully to the wide range of views expressed about an academy for Darlington that would bring together Hurworth and Eastbourne schools.

"It is acknowledged that for the academy to succeed it needs the willing involvement of all concerned, and with the support of our MP, Alan Milburn, we have met to determine how best to proceed."

The council will submit a formal expression of interest in the Eastbourne academy with the Department for Education and Skills in the near future.

As part of the deal, Hurworth School will permanently drop its plans to expand. It will continue to pursue foundation status.

The statement said: "This proposal still secures the opportunity to bring in multi-million pound investment in an academy for Darlington, it brings to a conclusion the current period of uncertainty, and enables all schools within the borough to move forward together in securing the best future for Darlington children."

Councillor Williams said: "We now have a clear route forward towards obtaining a new academy for Darlington, which has been our intention from the beginning, and we will have the Church of England as its sponsor.

"Progress and improvement of secondary education in the borough will be achieved through the family of schools working together and I look forward to working with colleagues at Hurworth, Eastbourne and the other secondary schools to achieve that aim."

The governing bodies of both schools were last night celebrating the news.

Ms Jameson, chairwoman of governors at Hurworth, said: "This safeguards the excellent education on offer at Hurworth School and also gives Eastbourne and the town what it needs."

Veronica Copeland, chairwoman of Eastbourne, said: "I am very relieved that there has been a resolution. All this has made everybody feel very unsettled."

Hurworth headteacher Mr Judson said: "This ends the uncertainty and I am thrilled for both schools."