SEVENTY-FIVE out of 76 members of staff at a Darlington area school have vowed that they will never work in a new academy.

A petition signed by Hurworth School teachers, teaching assistants, office workers and catering staff, comes as a response to controversial plans to merge with struggling Eastbourne Comprehensive, in Darlington, in a £25m academy on the edge of the town.

The academy would mean the closure of rural Hurworth School - consistently rated as one of the best schools in the North-East.

The petition is directed at Margaret Asquith, the head of children's services at Darlington Borough Council.

It states: "We as a staff do not want our school to be closed as planned by Darlington Borough Council, nor do we want to work in your proposed new academy.

"This position is permanent and non-negotiable."

The petition was drawn up so that the council would not be able to doubt, or deny, the strength of feeling at Hurworth.

Save Hurworth and Rural Education (Share), a campaign group trying to save the school, said yesterday it had forwarded the petition to Prime Minister Tony Blair - whose Sedgefield constituency includes Hurworth. It has also been sent to all Darlington councillors.

Ian Holme, a spokesman for Share, said: "We are absolutely delighted that the staff are prepared to make such a clear and unequivocal statement.

"With this level of disinterest from the school itself, even this council must begin to understand that its current academy plans are fatally flawed."

A spokesman for the school said parents had been told by council officers that they were not aware of any opposition to the plans.

He said the petition demonstrated that this was not the case.

Yesterday, at a meeting of an education scrutiny panel in Darlington Town Hall, Conservative leader Tony Richmond said: "The teachers are saying they don't want to work in the academy. How are you going to deal with this?"

Sheila Bamber, director of education for the Church of England, which is sponsoring the academy, said: "We would look at bringing in experts into the feasibility process.

"There are ways to deal with this."

Mr Holme added: "With the whole school community dead set against Hurworth's involvement in the academy, it would be lunacy for the council to continue with its current proposals."

Last night a council spokeswoman said: "We have received a copy of the petition and note its content."

Last week, it emerged that Mr Balir would step into the row.

His agent, John Burton, said the Prime Minister supported the expansion of popular schools, but that this case was complicated and he planned to meet the school and the authority.