VILLAGERS kept up their campaign against the relocation of a successful school last night with another high-profile demonstration.

Residents battling to prevent Hurworth School being moved out of the village staged a protest as governors met to discuss the issue.

Darlington Borough Council wants Hurworth School to take over troubled Eastbourne Comprehensive in a £20m project.

The two would be merged in a new, 1,200-pupil school in Yarm Road, in Darlington.

But the proposals have sparked an outcry in Hurworth, where an action group has been set up in protest.

And the group was out in force last night, as a sub-committee of the board of governors met at the school.

The full governing body has yet to decide whether to support the relocation.

The sub-committee has been considering the proposal and a full board meeting will take place on Friday, although it is not known whether a final decision will be taken then.

Action group spokesman Ian Holme said he had been told that the governing body may or may not make its decision this week.

But he said: "They couldn't make any decision based on the information that has been put forward so far.

"It's not been put to the parents in any formal manner. We're hoping they will defer their decision, at the very least."

The board of governors has also been considering the findings of a consultant, who was commissioned to examine the school's future options.

The report was originally examining ten options, including the school gaining foundation status, expanding to become a sixth form college, or adding a second specialism to its maths and IT status.

But consultant Richard Knott also looked at an 11th option - the council's proposal to move the school and have it be the main base for a new Darlington-wide schools improvement service.

His report says the governing body needs to keep two options open at this stage, but he does back the local authority's plan.

Mr Knott supports the creation of a new Hurworth School, but urges governors to have a fall-back option - possibly one that allows the school to stay in the village, but with an increased capacity.

He said if governors reject the council's plan, the chance of a new school is lost for decades.

He said: "A decision to stay with the existing site, and perhaps the same number of pupils, would not preclude the school improvement pact, but it would render it different and perhaps somewhat less ground-breaking."