VILLAGERS fighting to keep their secondary school last night staged another public display of opposition against plans to relocate it.

A day after about 200 people held a march to protest about the planned takeover of Eastbourne Comprehensive by Hurworth School, a public meeting about the scheme attracted a huge turnout.

Darlington Borough Council has revealed plans to close the schools and to build a 1,200-pupil Hurworth School, in Yarm Road, Darlington.

But Hurworth residents again voiced their strong disapproval at last night's meeting, in the Grange Community Centre.

More than 250 people packed into the venue to see a parent-led action committee formed to wage a battle on behalf of Hurworth and surrounding affected villages.

There were also calls for Tony Blair, as the local MP, to step in on the matter.

Borough council bosses are lobbying hard for Government funding earmarked for a new secondary school in Darlington to be released as soon as possible.

However, the potential move out of the village is not mentioned in a draft version of Hurworth School's handbook.

Meanwhile, a senior union official working at Eastbourne School has told of the mystery surrounding the suspension of its headteacher, Karen Pemberton.

Weeks before her suspension, she had been hailed by new acting headteacher Eamonn Farrar as one of the driving forces behind a significant improvement in standards.

Teacher Terry Bladen, Darlington secretary and a former national president of the NASUWT union, said: "Nobody at the school seems to know why she's been suspended. The staff wonder why one minute they're being praised to the heavens and the next minute they're down on the floor being kicked."