CRITICS of a controversial academy planned for Darwen will be proved wrong by its results, says Education Secretary Ruth Kelly.

Super schools like the £35 million academy designed to replace failing Darwen Moorland High School have already been blasted by the National Union of Teachers.

And residents in Redearth, Darwen, are against the local academy plan because 150 homes will be lost.

Even the Commons education committee said £5billion of government funding for the super-schools should be halted until existing academies proved they were cost-effective.

But on a visit to Haslingden High School, Ms Kelly pledged academies like Darwen would prove their worth.

She said: "Academies aim to raise standards by drawing on the resources and expertise of sponsors from the voluntary and business sector.

They will prove to be a valuable addition to the school system."

The academy at Darwen Moorland is due to open in September 2007 before relocating to a purpose-built town centre building at Easter 2008.

But Darwen Residents Action Group member Christine Oldfield said: "In other parts of the country academies are failing. But in Darwen, the high school is already in special measures and we cannot afford for our children to go through the same.

If this academy fails, 150 homes will have been pulled down for nothing."

The academy would not be controlled by the local education authority, and would be under no obligation to teach the national curriculum.

The sponsor, The Rodney Aldridge Charitable Trust, headed by the boss of Capita, is operating a public/private partnership with Blackburn with Darwen Council and will select the board of governors and determine the ethos of the school.