A SCHEME to build a £25m city academy in Darlington was in tatters last night after school governors comprehensively rejected the proposal.

Hurworth School will now apply for foundation status - which will give it more freedom from the local authority.

Governors at the school rejected Darlington Borough Council's proposal to merge top-performing Hurworth with struggling Eastbourne Comprehensive in an academy on the edge of the town.

In a statement last night, governors said: "Since the local authority appears to be seeking to place Hurworth School in an academy without our consent, we have decided to apply to become a foundation school providing its own school improvement services. This will give us the independence to maintain and develop our school."

The governors' statement also said they had instructed headteacher Dean Judson and others not to make any statements that were inconsistent with their decision.

Since the council put forward plans to merge the schools earlier this year, there has been huge opposition within Hurworth. Parents want to keep the school in its rural location.

Last night, campaign group Share (Save Hurworth and Rural Education) said the governors' decision was one of the most "dramatic defeats for Darlington Borough Council in living memory".

Council chief executive Ada Burns and the head of children's services, Margaret Asquith, had met governors before they made their decision, to urge them not to reject the academy plan at such an early stage.

But despite spending 40 minutes at the school, they were unable to convince the governing body.

Last night, Ms Burns said: "We are grateful to the governors for giving us the opportunity to talk to them. We are disappointed that they have made this decision at such an early stage, but we still want to talk to them about our plans for the future."

Ian Holme, spokesman for Share, which has held a number of demonstrations against the plans to merge the schools, spoke of his "unconcealed joy" at the decision.

Hurworth governors had supported the original plan to merge the two schools in a new Hurworth School, on a site off Yarm Road.

However, it later emerged that the only way the local authority could get the £25m needed for a new school, in the next few years, was to apply through the academy programme.

The council had planned to use Hurworth School's track record of success to set up a school improvement service in the academy to boost education throughout the borough.

The governors and Share remain supportive of plans for Hurworth to lead the improvement service in Darlington.

Mr Holme said: "This is a triumph for Hurworth, the catchment area and, above all, for common sense.

"Now we can rest assured that our children and future generations will be able to benefit from the strong academic and cultural ethos at Hurworth School.

"At the same time, we look forward to forging a good relationship with the local authority as Hurworth seeks to benefit all schools in the borough as schools improvement leader, while retaining everything that makes Hurworth special."

These latest developments pave the way for Hurworth to become the area's first foundation school, which means that ownership of the school buildings and land would be held in trust on behalf of the governing body.

Eastbourne Comprehensive governors have so far supported the council's plans.