EAST Lancashire teachers have suffered a major blow in their protest against benchmark examinations - but today vowed to fight on.

And parents or governors could be targeted in future action by the National Union of Teachers (NUT) in their bid to protest against Standard Attainment Tests (SATs).

More than 1,000 school headteachers and chairs of governors were targeted as the campaign spread from East Lancashire across the country. Headteachers were urged to send leaflets to parents asking for their support.

Across the country, members overwhelming voted in favour of abandoning the tests for seven and 11-year-olds.

But with only 34 per cent of ballot papers returned by members it would be unlawful in terms of the union's own rules to proceed with any action. Nationally, a total of 103,729 ballot papers were sent out with more than 30,000 returned. Of those returned, 86.2 per cent were in favour of action.

The union threatened to stop preparing for the exams and refuse to administer the Key Stage 1 and 2 curriculum.

The union's Blackburn with Darwen secretary, Simon Jones, said: "Rarely has there been such a large and positive response to a ballot for industrial action. But there was not a great enough turnout under the NUT's own rules to sanction a boycott. It is a major blow and a huge disappointment. We will continue to do everything in our power to campaign against the SATs, although without a boycott at this stage.

"East Lancashire's teachers remain convinced that the tests constrain their professional judgement and undermine children's learning. "

At present, schoolchildren are tested at the ages of seven, 11 and 14 when they come to the end of each key stage. If they continue with their education, they are followed by GCSE, AS levels and A2 - or A level - exams at the age of 16, 17 and 18.

The NUT, the largest teaching union, believes the culture of testing has gone too far since it was introduced in 1988.

The reliability of the examinations was also called into question in October after it was revealed that all but one exam paper at St Augustine's RC High in Billington had to be re-graded.