PLANS to relocate a high-performing school were agreed months ago and crucial decisions have already been made, according to their critics.

Darlington Borough Council hopes to create a £25m privately-sponsored city academy, bringing Hurworth and Eastbourne schools together, at the top end of Yarm Road.

Council officials were invited by the Government to pursue the academy option, to the fury of a protest group which wants to see Hurworth School gain foundation status.

Such a move would allow the school to be self-governed, with less input from the local authority, and is being championed by the Save Hurworth and Rural Education group.

But a report from the council's children's services director, Margaret Asquith, issued in March to Labour Party figures, said there were serious fears within the town hall over the prospect of the council losing Hurworth.

The report hailed Hurworth as in a class of its own, with other schools at the time performing way below expectations.

Mrs Asquith wrote that, had it not been for other areas being worse at the time, the Government would be considering intervention into Darlington education authority.

The council is now keen to open an academy, despite the same report saying Darlington did not meet the necessary criteria at the time, in terms of exam results or levels of deprivation.

Conservative education spokesman Councillor Barrie Armstrong said: "The latest revelations about Hurworth School, relating to fears about the formation of a foundation school, indicate that plans were laid in March for its replacement, with decisions already made.

"We now fear that the proposed consultation process and feasibility study will be nothing more than a sham."

A council spokeswoman refuted the claims, saying: "We're going to our cabinet with papers to ask for the go-ahead to develop a submission of interest. The submission will then be returned to cabinet for approval then sent to the Department for Education and Skills.

"In the meantime, information about academies will be made widely available.

"The formal consultation process will not happen for a number of months, but we will ensure people have a lot of information on academies before it begins."