THE views of parents are being sought on a controversial school takeover plan after a senior minister refused to comment on the issue.

Neasham Parish Council is inviting comments from parents in the village on the proposal by Darlington Borough Council for top performing Hurworth School to take over Eastbourne Comprehensive, in Darlington, on a new £20m site in Yarm Road.

There has been major opposition to the plan in Hurworth, because it would mean the village losing its school and parents are worried that the move would damage the performance of pupils.

An action committee was formed on Wednesday of last week, 24 hours before the school was awarded an excellence award for performance from Darlington Council's children's services department, followed by an announcement that year nine pupils had achieved record-breaking results.

Parish councillor Eric Miller said: "I can understand why Hurworth parents wish to keep the school but we need to find out what the Neasham parents feel.

"I think there is a strong case that, if Hurworth doesn't close, it wouldn't be large enough to acquire the funding for it to continue as a viable school.

"Do we want to retain a school that is not going to provide an education for our children?"

Hurworth ward councillor Peter Foster said that the funding could be used to build a larger village school.

"The borough council could build a new school by purchasing farmland next to Hurworth - a developer would probably do this if it was sold," he said.

"But the education authority wants the land because it's worth £20m and the most expensive bit of land it owns."

Coun John Day added: "It's quite sad that we have just had the path built between Neasham and Hurworth. The kids have been using it to walk and cycle to school. It will be a shame if the school closes."

A notice will be displayed in the village inviting comments from parents.

The Secretary of State for Education, Ruth Kelly, refused to comment on the proposal while visiting Darlington last week.

She said: "I am aware of the issue and the strength of feeling on either side. But these are local decisions that should be taken for the benefit of the community."

The following day, Hurworth School's 13- and 14-year-olds recorded the best performance the school had ever seen in their Standard Attainment Tests (SATs). The tests are taken at ages seven, 11 and 13, and the Government sets benchmark levels of achievement.

In this case, 97pc of year nine pupils achieved the standard in ICT, compared to 93pc last year; 94pc achieved the level in maths, compared to 83pc, and 86pc hit the target in science (78pc).

The results of SATs in English will not be known until later this year.

Headteacher Dean Judson said the SATs results would put Hurworth in a very good position in the value added league tables.