THE first meeting of the Hurworth School Parents Action Group (HSPAG) was attended by more than 100 parents.

The parents are fighting Darlington Borough Council plans to merge Hurworth School with Eastbourne Comprehensive in a £25m academy.

They are instead supporting Hurworth governors' plans to seek foundation status to free the school from local authority control.

The group's first act was to agree with campaign group Save Hurworth and Rural Education (Share) and governors to hold a joint demonstration against the academy proposal outside the town hall today, between 10am and 11am.

People who oppose the plans are invited.

HSPAG was set up to represent the views of parents of children at Hurworth School. It will also represent the views of teachers and governors. Share represents the wider community.