NELSON headteacher Martin Burgess has spoken of the uncertainty facing him and his school with the revamp of secondary education in Burnley and Pendle.

Edge End High School will close in 2006 to be replaced by a new 'super school' on Bent Head playing fields under the Building Schools for the Future project.

Mr Burgess has been headteacher at Edge End for 12 years and at a presentation evening last night he spoke of his sadness at the school's demise.

He said: "This is the twelfth presentation evening speech I have made since I became headteacher and I am as proud as ever of my school, its staff and above all its pupils.

"So it is with some regret and a little bit of trepidation that I suggest it might well be my last."

Mr Burgess hopes to become head designate of one of Pendle's new schools and said although he would be sad to see Edge End go, the project was too good an opportunity for Burnley and Pendle to miss.

He said: "It is quite daunting after such a long time to have to face the uncertainty of the next few years.

"Apart from not knowing whether I've got a job, ending 12 years of hard work getting this school to where it is - a viable proposition academically, financially and structurally - from its dire situation 10 years ago, is not easy.

"But my sadness at that is nothing compared with the sense of loss thousands of pupils who have been educated on this site since 1933 will feel. This school has always had an air of 'family' about it."

Mr Burgess said it was important not to let fear of the unknown damage the Building Schools for the Future scheme which will see £170million invested in new schools across Lancashire.