ALL of Burnley and Nelson's secondary school teachers have been told they will have to re-apply for their own jobs.

And shocked staff were told on Monday they had until only the end of the month to file their applications.

Under controversial plans to replace 11 high schools with eight new "super schools" in the area, teaching staff have been told to submit applications if they want to carry on working locally - and there is no guarantee they will get their old jobs back.

Union bosses were today due to hold crunch talks with education chiefs, who said teachers should have no fears about the proposals.

It is not yet known how many posts are available for existing teaching staff to fill.

But angry teachers have claimed up to 80 posts will be lost in the £150million Building Schools For the Future shake-up.

Ken Pearson, a business studies teacher at Walshaw High School and Burnley secretary of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), today said: "For two years we have known that some teachers may lose their job. A lot of staff are looking for jobs outside the area because they are unhappy with things that are going on.

"Staff are concerned that they won't have enough time to apply for positions. We thought the applications would have been sent before the break but they only landed in the staffs' pigeon holes on Monday afternoon."

He said a meeting was due to take place with union members and county council chiefs today to address staff concerns.

Ken Cridland, branch secretary for the National Union of Teachers, added: "We are not expecting any compulsory redundancies. We think there will be enough jobs overall for all those people who need jobs which is what we have been told by the authorities. We would be very disappointed if this wasn't true."

But a teacher affected by the programme, who asked not to be named, said: "Everybody is extremely upset and worried about this situation. We have been told there could be 80 less jobs. It is a very uncertain time for all the staff."

And John Entwistle, chairman of governors at St Theodore's RC High School, which will close along with sister school St Hilda's, making way for Blessed Trinity College, said some teachers would have to take early retirement.

He said: "It is quite clear there is not enough jobs for everybody and a lot of people won't get what they want.

"The real problem from what I can gather is there is a lot of discontent from teachers who don't know what is happening to them.

"What I am concerned about is the staff I employee are treated as fairly as possible."

Lancashire education boss, County Councillor Alan Whittaker, today said: "We realise that this may be a stressful time for some of our staff but we are there to provide advice and support them.

"Nobody likes applying for their own jobs but this has been on the cards for two years. We have got a shadow governing body that's now established and headteachers in place to set up the new schools structure.

"We have got a good relationship with the teachers' trade unions and a good record in Lancashire of dealing with amalgamations and expansion of schools. Burnley is at the forefront of education in this country and I am confident that people need have no fears."

Two independent staffing commissions will make job decisions -- one for each district.

Lord Tony Clarke, who chaired the Burnley Task Force into the riots of 2001, is in charge of the Burnley commission and Prof Oliver Fulton is chairing the Pendle commission.

Representatives from the temporary governing bodies, professional staff associations, unions, Lancashire County Council and Salford Diocese will also sit on the commissions.

The groups will meet early next year and it is expected that staff will be offered posts by Easter 2006.