TEACHERS today hit out at ambitious plans to transform local secondary education - and claimed they could have a bad effect on pupils' education.

Members of the NASUWT, which represents 250 teachers in the Burnley area, have raised concerns about the proposals.

These include replacing the eight secondary schools in Burnley with five new state-of-the art mixed schools and replacing Edge End and Walton High Schools in Nelson, and Mansfield in Brierfield, with two state-of-the-art schools on the sites of Walton and Edge End. A public consultation into the £150million Goverment-funded plans began in May and building could start either in 2005/06 or 2006/07 with the new buildings up and running by 2008.

Steve Vinton, local secretary of the union, said: "The union welcomes the cash but the timescale under which this is being done is very short.

"These proposals are going to have an impact on all the children in the borough and we think there should be more time to have a detailed think about what we want.

"We also believe that the sites highlighted for the new buildings where schools already exist could entrench many of the problems that exist in Burnley at present rather than resolve them.

"If the new schools are being built on the same sites that exist at present, how is that going to solve anything?"

Lancashire County Council's vision for education in Burnley aims to tackle problems including the admissions crisis that has plagued the borough's schools for many years.

The plans are also designed to promote greater integration among white and Asian pupils within the borough's schools. The lack of integration was seen by the Burnley Task Force to be a key issue in the 2001 riots.

Mr Vinton, who has taught in Burnley for more than 30 years and currently works at Ivy Bank Business and Technology College, added that the NASUWT was also concerned about the continuity of education for students and staff while the new schools were being built.

Education bosses have assured parents, staff and pupils that safeguarding education is their "number-one priority" during the changes.

Children would be educated at existing sites and in temporary accommodation while the new buildings were completed.

Burnley is currently one of two reserve projects which could receive cash under the Government's Building Schools for the Future programme in 2005/06.

The county council will know in August if it will definitely be included in this first wave of funding.

County councillor Alan Whittaker, executive member for education, said: "The proposals are designed to address some of those problems and they need to be seen in the wider context of all the schools working together.

"The timescale is not something I am master of, it has been determined by the DfES and the sites for the new school buildings and the location of the sixth form are the subject of on-going discussions."

Coun Whittaker added that the county council considered it to be of paramount importance that the education of students going through secondary school while the new schools were being built was not disrupted.

The final date for people to get their views on the proposals into the county council is Friday, July 19.