AN education authority is to challenge an adjudicator's decision after it lost control of a top-performing primary school.

St Oswald's CE Infant and Nursery School in Durham - once considered for closure by Durham County Council because of its falling numbers - is to become voluntary aided from September.

It means parents, governors and the local diocese will have more control over admissions, recruitment of staff and their views on faith and religious education.

The 71-pupil infant school will also have to raise up to £8,000 a year to fund the running of the school.

Durham County Council's director of education Keith Mitchell said: "We are very disappointed with the adjudicator's decision and will challenge it.

"The School Organisation Committee in County Durham, which represents the views of all schools, did not agree with the proposal because the tradition here is for all schools to work together to address issues which affect them, such as falling rolls.

"St Oswald's proposal is an individual school's solution which will challenge the wider partnership of schools.

"It's very sad that the adjudicator has seen fit to over- rule that collective wish for partnerships and has focused her decision only on the interests of pupils in one school."

The council told the adjudicator the school only became interested in acquiring voluntary-aided status after it was considered for closure in 2003.

It argued that standards may be adversely affected by the move.

The 93-pupil school in Durham was described as outstanding in a recent Ofsted report and the adjudicator ruled in the schools favour.

Parent governor Adrian Beney said the only way the council could challenge the verdict was with a judicial review.

He said: "It would have to be challenged in the courts and that would involve spending a lot of council taxpayers' money as they are very expensive.

"The idea is not to turn the children into a lot of card carrying Christians. It would be idiotic of us to change the way we teach religious education.

"We are one of the top performing schools in the country and we want to preserve what we have and enhance it further."