VILLAGERS have launched a campaign to save their school from closure.

Sherburn Hill Primary is one of 23 schools that could be axed under Durham County Council's "blueprint for excellence''.

The council, which said its proposals will improve education, hopes to remove empty places.

Sherburn Hill Primary can take 120 youngsters but has 37 surplus places, expected to rise by nine in the next four years.

Officials suggested that if the school closes, pupils could go to Sherburn Village Primary, a move that would fill that school's surplus places.

But residents have formed an action group to fight for the school.

Durham City Council cabinet member Carol Woods, the Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate and local councillor, said: "It is a really nice school.

"It is well-equipped and is in a very good condition and is not dilapidated.''

She said youngsters benefited from smaller classes, and that if it was closed, the pupils would have to travel, many by car, which would have an adverse impact on the environment.

She said it would also undermine efforts to regenerate the village.