SEVEN hours before Hurworth School governors made their decision, nearly 100 protestors had gathered at Darlington football club to lobby their MP, Tony Blair, to support their campaign.

As they arrived at the stadium, the mainly female protestors, bearing placards and banners, were defiant.

The group has turned its protest into a full-time job over the past few weeks, taking every opportunity to show their support for the school, fighting to keep it in their village.

Mr Blair, on a whirlwind tour of the region, met John Williams, leader of Darlington Borough Council, to discuss the school's future.

And yesterday, after seeing the passionate protest as he arrived to make a speech at the Williamson Motors stadium, in Neasham Road, Mr Blair agreed to meet two parents and promised to listen to their concerns.

Last night, parents and villagers vowed to fight on, despite the crushing news that Hurworth School's governing body had supported the borough council's proposals for Hurworth to take over Eastbourne at a new £20m school in Yarm Road, Darlington.

A petition to keep the school in the village has so far been signed by more than 600 people.

Hurworth headteacher Dean Judson said he was delighted with the governors' support and excited about the possibility of working in a bigger and better building.

He said: "This is a fantastic opportunity to replicate what we do so well with 650 students for a wider audience.

"Myself, and the staff at Hurworth, are really looking forward to doing this in state-of-the-art facilities."

He said he would work with the council during the consultation.

Eamonn Farrar, acting headteacher of Eastbourneand former headteacher of Hurworth, who has been appointed by the local education authority's to improve standards said: "Everything will be out in the open and there will be six to nine months of consultation.

"Eastbourne governors have supported the proposals because they want a new school for their children.

"They are excited about it, but they want to be treated equally."

Over the past few days, the Hurworth School Action Group has accused the council of offering governors an ultimatum - support the proposals or the council would close Hurworth School.

Last night, action groop spokesman Ian Holme said: "Whilst obviously disappointed, the action group is not surprised by this decision.

"As a group, we will redouble our efforts to ensure that the truth will out and over the coming months we will endeavour to obtain full and transparent details of these proposals.

"We will continue to raise the profile of our campaign, and following our discussions with Mr Blair today, we are confident of taking the issues that we raised with the council to the highest possible authorities.

"We must thank Darlington Football Club for their kindness and hospitality today during Mr Blair's visit, and assure all those concerned that this is just the beginning of our fight."

After the protest at the football club, where Mr Blair was making a speech, Mr Holme and parent Carmel Binns were invited to meet the Prime Minister and Darlington MP Alan Milburn.

As the rest of the group waited inside, Linda Griffiths, who has two children at Hurworth Primary School, said: "Tony Blair needs to speak to us, he needs to listen to our views. Having the Prime Minister as your local MP is no good for us if he isn't going to listen."

Jane Hodgson, from Hurworth, who has two children, said: "Tony Blair was talking about values the other day, well these are our values. The new school is going to disrupt my children's education.

"I chose for my children to be able to walk to school and now that choice may be taken away."

Emerging from the stadium after the ten-minute meeting with the PM and Mr Milburn, Mr Holme and Mrs Binns addressed the waiting protestors.

Mrs Binns said: "This is becoming more high profile.

"I invited Mr Blair to walk to school with me and my children to see for himself what they will be taking away."

Mr Blair said he would think about the issue over the summer recess and respond to the group in September.

Meanwhile, a fresh battle opened up in Eastbourne.

Over the past month, the views of parents at Eastbourne have been overshadowed by those in Hurworth.

But the governing body yesterday released a statement, in which it supported the proposals, but called for a fairer deal for their school.

Governors want the move to a new school to be completed quickly, to avoid staffing problems and disruption to students' education.

They called on the local education authority to supply a detailed plan by October to show how Eastbourne will be protected in the interim period.

The governors said: "We would, in all fairness, request that the staff from both Eastbourne and Hurworth schools be treated equally."

They also called for a new governing body, consisting of members from both Hurworth and Eastbourne.