THE debate about the proposal to close Hurworth comprehensive school and merge it with Eastbourne school on a new site on the edge of Darlington will have surprised senior borough councillors and officers.

Although a question mark has been hanging over Hurworth school for well over a year now, the unprecedented (in Darlington, at least) ferocity of the anti-closure campaign is remarkable.

There may be a tendency in the town hall to dismiss the opposition as elitist middle-class parents defending their privileges. To do so would be a mistake.

While it is easy to see why the council would like to close Hurworth (land value, lower transport costs, for example), the loss of the school's ethos is more valuable.

That value will not necessarily transfer to a new site. As we have found with the creation of city academies, shiny new buildings don't necessarily make good schools.

It surely makes sense to harness the energy and commitment of the Hurworth parents behind an improved school in the village. Pupils will still have to be bussed from Darlington and the surrounding villages but that is a surely a small price to pay for preserving an educational establishment which is well loved and clearly works.