A PLAN to open a free school in government offices was condemned as “completely nuts” by a North-East MP last night.

Jenny Chapman said it was crazy for ministers to propose a new school in Mowden Hall, Darlington, across the road from two successful schools – Mowden Infant and Junior schools – that were listed for expansion.

The MP also vowed to investigate whether the idea – put forward by the Department for Education (DfE) yesterday – raised fresh fears over the jobs of 400 civil servants working in Staindrop Road.

Ms Chapman said: “I think this plan was put together on the back of a beermat. It makes no sense at all.”

The row blew up after Mowden Hall was placed on a list of six buildings described as “suitable to house free schools”, sponsored by parents, teachers or not-for-profit groups.

The building is home to about 400 civil servants, the majority processing teachers’ pensions payments, but some working for the Department of Business.

The DfE said the move did not mean a free school was about to move in, but reflected ministers’ desire to find “surplus or under-used public buildings” that could be used.

The new-style schools are allowed to waive regulations that cover planning and school buildings, allowing them to set up in disused offices.

But the controversial free schools policy has struggled to gain momentum in the North-East, although a 600- place Barwick’s Own Second Secondary School is due to open at Ingleby Barwick, near Stockton, in 2013.

Last night, Ms Chapman said she supported free schools, but only where they were answering a genuine desire among parents and teachers to plug a gap in provision.

She said: “Opening a new school across the road from two very successful schools, where there are already plans for expansion, seems completely nuts to me.

“I know of no demand from parents for a new primary school in that area, or that any group has been set up in Darlington that intends to open a free school.

“However, my biggest concern is whether this means that those jobs at Mowden Hall are under threat again?”

Fears were raised when the DfE abandoned plans to move the teachers pensions’ headquarters to a site in Darlington town centre, but, in February, it pledged to stay at Mowden Hall.

One of the criticisms of free schools is that they pinch pupils – and funding – from neighbouring local authority schools, undermining them.

But, announcing the list, Education Secretary Michael Gove said: “Through free schools, we are breaking down barriers to make this a reality for some of the poorest and most vulnerable children in the country.”