The county council has recommended to scrap the existing three-tier education system and replace it with a two-tier primary and secondary structure.

Parents handed in a 28,000-signature protest petition before the decision and vowed to continue their fight.

The council said the move was needed to tackle surplus places and crumbling buildings and to raise standards.

The council's executive passed the decision in principle with a final decision to be made on 9 June at a full council meeting.

'Different challenges'

On Thursday morning, protesters matched through Morpeth town centre before handing over the petition.

The plan will mean the closure or merger of the county's 45 middle schools and the end of the three-tier system of first, middle and high schools.

The council says it has to act quickly to reduce more than 7,000 surplus places and scrapping middle schools will raise standards of learning.

Director of Education Brian Edwards said following the vote: "I think Northumberland faces a number of different challenges and it needs to address these to raise the achievements of children.

"We can see an opportunity to move to modern, new learning environments that will support a personalised learning curriculum.

"There are some exciting ideas - keeping the rural schools in their communities but at the same time developing a network of extended schools.

Full council meeting

"We have an opportunity to raise standards and give the teachers and schools the resources they need to do the job - at the moment they are spread too thinly."

One parent of a pupil at a Hexham school said the fight would go on to save the middle schools.

She said: "We will now to go to the full council meeting and make our arguments known again.

"We know change needs to come but we haven't been offered an opportunity to come up with suggestions about how to tackle the challenges without demolishing a system which we respect."