COUNCIL bosses have been criticised for preventing a letter from a Darlington secondary school being sent to its feeder primaries.

Hurworth School sent parents at its school - and six primary schools - letters setting out its expansion plans for the future.

But Darlington Borough Council chief executive Ada Burns sent an e-mail to the headteachers, telling them that it would be "irresponsible" to distribute the letters.

It is understood that parents at Hurworth Primary School received the letters, but those at Middleton St George Primary, Heathfield Primary, Firthmoor Primary, Dodmire Junior and St John's Primary schools, did not.

The letter from governors asked parents to support Hurworth School's plan to expand by a third, to a 900-pupil foundation status school - making it free from local authority control.

Hurworth's plan would involve the closure of Eastbourne and has been produced as a result of council plans to close the school and Eastbourne, and merge them into a £25m Church of England sponsored academy on a new site.

Susan Pickering, a parent from Middleton St George, who has two sons aged five and eight, said: "I managed to get hold of a copy of this letter. It is an excellent letter and I see no reason why it should not be sent out.

"Like many other concerned parents, I feel this will be one of the biggest mistakes the council will ever make if it pushes ahead to close our top-performing school."

The letter explained that Hurworth School turns away 50 pupils a year and it planned to get funding from the Department for Education and Skills to expand.

Governors say the school has carried out extensive research to look at the effects of its expansion on the rest of the Darlington borough, and has invited the local authority to share its findings.

Sam Jameson, chairwoman of governors at Hurworth School, said: "This is disgusting and I told Ada Burns what I thought when she called me about it. People keep coming up to me in the village and when I am shopping and asking what is going on.

"The council said this process is going to be open and honest - this is totally wrong."

Yesterday, a council spokeswoman said: "The decision on whether to circulate any material to parents lies with the headteacher. We were concerned that the contents of the letter did not explain what would happen to the children who would be displaced.

"As the local education authority responsible for school places, we need to be confident that any plan addresses this issue. We look forward to discussing their plans with Hurworth School."