THE Government last night signalled the go-ahead for a privately-sponsored £25m city academy to be built in Darlington.

Council chiefs confirmed that the facility, which would bring together Hurworth School and Eastbourne comprehensive, could open by 2008.

The announcement represents a dramatic twist in the borough council's controversial plans to shut the schools.

The authority announced proposals in June for a new Hurworth School, which would take 1,200 pupils from both catchment areas, to be created in Yarm Road, Darlington, by 2014.

Town hall officials had been pressing Whitehall for an early release of up to £20m of funding that could allow the project to go ahead.

But last night, to the fury of campaigners in Hurworth, the council revealed it was now pursuing a new option.

Chief executive Ada Burns said the Government had invited the authority to express an interest in securing millions of pounds through the academy programme.

A detailed feasibility study would be required but, if the council succeeded, an academy on the Yarm Road site could be opened by 2008.

A private sponsor would have to be found for the facility, which would be run by a board of directors, on which the sponsors would have seats.

Critics of the academy programme have condemned the system, which allows sponsors to dictate the curriculum and appoint governors, while providing only eight per cent of the cost.

The Government suffered a major embarrassment earlier this year when the Unity City Academy, in Middlesbrough, became the first of the flagship academies to fail an inspection by education watchdog Ofsted, plunging it into special measures.

Darlington council's cabinet members could back the proposals this autumn, but the authority insisted that a full consultation process would begin later in the year.

Ms Burns said: "We had not anticipated the offer of an academy, but we are delighted to have it on the table."

She also revealed that Darlington MP Alan Milburn, who had faced criticism recently for staying out of the debate, had been a key figure in lobbying for a new school.

Mr Milburn said last night: "I have been trying to secure the best possible future for Darlington's schools and have pressed the case with ministers.

"A city academy provides a way of getting more money and more quality into Darlington's schools to ensure more of the town's children get an excellent education."

Members of the Save Hurworth and Rural Education (Share) action group last night revealed plans for one of the biggest anti-council demonstrations ever seen in Darlington.

They will join other groups in the town centre on October 15 for a mass protest.

Share spokesman Ian Holme said of the academy plans: "It doesn't change where we stand and what we think of this. The fight continues and it will be stepped up."

Group chairwoman Jill Russell said: "Watch this space. There is a lot of national interest in this and we have a lot of backing."

Meanwhile, the council's children's services director, Margaret Asquith, said last night that matters surrounding the suspension earlier this year of Eastbourne's headteacher Karen Pemberton had not been concluded.

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