THE leader of Burnley Council will this week urge members to get behind a bid for £80million to build four new schools in the town.

Lancashire County Council's plans to win a share of the Government's Building Schools for the Future programme were revealed earlier this month.

If the bid is successful, the funding would trigger a radical review of secondary school organisation in the town and would tackle many long-standing problems, including the annual admissions difficulties.

These led to the creation of the DIY school last year and which left around 200 pupils at the start of the new school year without a place in their first choice school.

Burnley Council leader, Councillor Stuart Caddy, has already publicly backed the bid and he hopes other members of the council's executive committee will throw their full support behind it when they meet tomorrow. He said: "The council has given the county council its initial backing, but tomorrow I would be looking for the executive to vote in favour of the recommendation in the report, which asks for them to support the bid.

"Secondary school education provision is a long-standing issue for Burnley and I look forward to the bid being secured."

Specific proposals for the bid, which has to be submitted by the end of October, have yet to be drawn up, but the county council is looking to build four new schools, if it wins the £80million.

Any future shake-up of secondary education in Burnley would probably mean the closure of two schools because of the number of surplus places, which stands at 600 and is expected to rise to 1,600.

A major education conference, involving teachers and governors from all the schools, is being held at Turf Moor football ground on Wednesday, August 27, to discuss the bid and its implications.

The county council hopes to present more detailed proposals, which will form the funding bid, at the end of September and the Government is expected to announce which bids have won in December.

A full consultation with parents, teachers, governors and community leaders will be held next spring if the county council has been successful.