IT is one of the biggest issues facing education departments up and down the region - and it is only expected to get worse.

What do you do when pupil numbers are such that classes are half-empty and there are hundreds of spare places?

Inevitably, some schools close, often amalgamated with neighbouring schools, to the annoyance of parents.

Most recently, plans to close Hurworth and Eastbourne comprehensive schools, in the Darlington borough, and replace them with a new £20m school, partly because of falling rolls, have caused controversy.

A raft of figures illustrates the scale of the problem across the region.

In Darlington, there are 8,279 pupils in primary schools. In 2010, that figure will be 7,187.

For secondary schools, there are 6,137 pupils. In 2010 there will be 5,659.

In Middlesbrough, there were 13,724 primary school pupils in 2000. Currently, there are 12,175 and in 2010 there will be 10,786.

The secondary school figures are 8,682 in 2000 and 7,780 now. In 2010, the figure will be 6,843.

In North Yorkshire, there are 86,000 pupils in secondary education. This is expected to drop by about 3,000 to 83,000 in 2007/8.

Last year, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) warned that 172 primary schools and 16 secondary schools were in danger of closure across the North-East and Yorkshire because more than a quarter of classroom seats were unfilled.

This included 69 primary schools and four secondary schools in County Durham alone.

Most Local Education Authorities (LEAs) have been forced into reviews of their school stock.

In Middlesbrough, plans are on the table to close three primary schools - Brambles, Caldicotes and Thorntree - and replace them with a new £7.9m 630-place school.

Councillor Paul Thompson, executive member for education and skills, blamed falling numbers and a spiralling maintenance bill for old school buildings.

He said: "The problem is it just isn't viable when schools have too many surplus places because you still have the same heating, lighting and management costs, so hard decisions sometimes have to be made.

"They are funded on a per pupil basis, so the bottom line is bums on seats.

"In Middlesbrough, we merged all our infant and junior schools and that is an option available to LEAs because it cuts down on having two of everything.

"It is an emotive issue, though. Parents understandably get close to their local school and they and their children form an emotional bond with it."

Apart from closures and amalgamations, LEAs can be creative in managing empty space, for example by converting classrooms into nurseries or letting the community use them.

They are allowed by the DfES to have a percentage of school places as surplus, but risk losing funding the higher their surplus gets.

The DfES, along with the Audit Commission, has developed a "toolkit" offering advice for local authorities struggling with falling rolls.

Two schools which experienced a major drop in pupil numbers were Pelton County Junior and Infant schools, in Pelton, near, Stanley, County Durham, since replaced by the £4m Pelton Community Primary School.

Before their closure, the rate of surplus places was 36 per cent. The cost of repairs and planned refurbishments was such that it was felt it would be more cost-effective to build a new school.

The school caters for 420 pupils and contains a private nursery and classrooms and areas for community groups.

Headteacher Ivor Williams said the advantages outweighed the disadvantages, although he admitted there were some "battles and arguments" along the way.

He said: "Any governors or parents who have concerns about agreeing to an amalgamation or a new school building should come and look around ours.

"The new classrooms and facilities are far superior to what we had and we have found it a breath of fresh air moving in here and the parents have as well.

"The situation here was relatively easy for us because all the buildings are on the same site, but I can understand parents' concern when you are closing schools which may be a few miles apart.

"However, issues such as getting children to school can be overcome, but issues of empty classrooms, repairs and poor accommodation often cannot."