A series of meetings are being arranged by staff and governors at schools which face uncertain futures under a £300m revamp of education in County Durham.

Teachers at some of the 100-plus schools lined up for closure or mergers have told how they plan to do all they can to oppose the controversial proposals.

And parents of children who attend the under-threat schools have vowed to join the fight to make sure they don't lose their classrooms.

The Northern Echo told yesterday how 23 schools across the county have been identified for possible closure and a further 94 face being merged with others nearby.

Some villages like Beamish, Wearhead and Cassop are at risk of losing their school because pupil numbers are not high enough to justify them staying open.

Education chiefs hope to save £600,000 a year through the re-organisation programme which will also go some way to ridding schools of the 11,908 surplus places.

David Thurlwell, headteacher of closure-threatened Sherburn Hill Primary School, near Durham, said: "The next step is consultation with schools and communities. I don't know the logistics, except we've been asked to reply by July 18. "The alternative is to try to find ways of being pro-active to reduce surplus places.

"We are going to have an emergency governors meeting to consider our response, putting forward whatever arguments we feel are cogent.

"The governors I have spoken to are all quite unanimous in that they don't want this to go ahead."

Apart from Mr Thurlwell, there are four full-time teachers whose jobs are at risk as well as two specialist teachers and support assistants who help to teach hearing impaired youngsters.

The school, with capacity for 120 pupils, has 37 surplus places. Should the school close, the 83 pupils are likely to be transferred to nearby Sherburn Village Primary School, which has exactly 83 surplus places.

Haswell Primary School, in east Durham, is also facing closure because it has a 147-pupil capacity, but just 83 children. Chairman of governors Margaret Jackson-Fraser, said: "The governors support our headteacher and the staff and all the work they are doing.

"We will be putting our case to Durham LEA to try and keep our school open."

Kathleen Linsley, headteacher at St Oswald's CE Infant School, in Durham, said: "Obviously, we are very concerned. This is a very good little school and parents and governors will work together to prevent the closure.

"We will be having a meeting with the governing body next week."

The school is one of the smallest in the county and has an 87-pupil capacity - but has 14 spare places.

Witton Gilbert Primary School, between Durham and Lanchester, has 72 surplus places at premises with capacity for 180, and has also been lined up for the axe.

The grandfather of one pupil said: "It means children are going to have to go out of the village. It's much better if they could stay in the village."

Dorothy Hope, headteacher at Eldon Lane Primary, near Bishop Auckland, said: "Nothing has been decided and it is still under consultation. We will be putting the best case forward that we can so that this school can remain open.''

Two out of four comprehensive schools in north-west Durham face being merged with their neighbours.

The ones under threat are Stanley School of Technology, Tanfield Comprehensive, and Moorside Comprehensive and Blackfyne Comprehensive, both in Consett.

Tanfield Comprehensive, near Stanley, recently underwent a £3.5m overhaul, but headteacher Archie Howat, accepts changes have to be made.

"In the next five to seven years, there will be a real drop in the numbers of young people of secondary school age in Derwentside," he said.

"It is beginning to impact on primary schools now and there will need to be some rationalisation of provision."

In Shildon, locals face losing their only comprehensive, the 950-place Sunnydale School, because there are 302 surplus places.

Acting headteacher Andy White said: "It is very early stages and extensive consultation will be carried out before any decisions are made, which is more likely to takes years than months.

"Parents, students and staff should not fear, there will be plenty of opportunities for the school, governors and the community to demonstrate that we can continue doing a super job for the people and town of Shildon.

"At this stage I'm not feeling too threatened and I hope others can feel the same, Sunnydale School has a lot to offer which I'm sure we can prove."