TEACHERS across Brighton and Hove have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action in support of colleagues at Marina High School.

In a ballot of 810 NUT members employed by Brighton and Hove Council, 94.8 per cent said they would be in favour of "sustained discontinuous action" in support of teachers at the school.

A second formal ballot now has to be held before any action at the authority's 80 schools can be taken.

Staff at Brighton's Marina High will lose their jobs in the summer when it closes to become a specialist media and arts college.

So far, just four present staff out of a total of 40, including head teacher Tony Garwood, have been given jobs at the new college.

Parents and pupils have already protested outside the school in Wilson Avenue in support of popular teachers who have not been offered the chance to stay on.

The ballot was organised by the Brighton and Hove Teachers' Association, the local branch of the NUT.

It now has to inform the local authority of the result and organise the next ballot.

Other teaching unions have expressed anger at the situation but have not yet balloted their members on any strike action.

Dick Boland, regional secretary of the NUT, said: "This result shows the strength of feeling teachers in the authority have for the way staff have been treated at the school.

"We want to see staff who have worked hard there to have the chance to work in the new college and not have their careers tarnished.

"The next ballot will be organised as soon as possible and any action would take place later this term."

The action would be in a series on half-day strikes.

Mr Boland said pupils taking GCSE and A-level exams would not be affected by any action.

Pat Hawkes, vice-chairwoman of Brighton and Hove Council's education committee, said: "We are very concerned about the possibility of strike action going ahead because relations with our teachers are very important.

"Our officials will now be working with the union to see what possible ways forward there are.

"We are more than aware of the concerns of parents, pupils and staff about the changes at Marina High.

"It has been a failing school for a long time for complex reasons and if we had not taken this action the Government would have closed it and all the staff would have been

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