THE Department for Education has been important to Darlington. And Darlington has been important to the Department for Education.

For decades, the town's Mowden Hall has been a key base for the department, with around 400 civil servants working in roles supporting the Government's education policies.

Now, there is a danger that those important, high quality jobs could be lost to the town due to plans by the DoE to relocate from Mowden Hall to a more modern location. Another site in Darlington is a possibility but Newcastle has also been mooted.

It is our view at The Northern Echo that there should be no need for Darlington to lose those jobs and we will be campaigning to persuade the DoE to keep them in the town.

A petition is being organised via our website to show the Government the strength of local feeling and details of how to join the campaign will be published in tomorrow's paper and on-line at www.northernecho.co.uk.

Darlington is a superb location for a Government department. It has excellent communication links to the rest of the country and there is no shortage of good quality office accommodation.

Lingfield Point, once the base for Paton and Baldwins, is an obvious example. It is already the chosen site of the Student Loans Company and could easily accommodate the DoE jobs.

With a high proportion of working mums and carers employed at Mowden Hall, it is crucial that the jobs stay local. To lose them to Newcastle would be a devastating blow to Darlington's economy.

The bottom line is that there is no need to look further afield than Darlington - a town which has served the Department for Education well for decades.