Some teachers at the school will lose their jobs when it closes next term before reopening as a media and arts college.

The Brighton and Hove Teachers' Association, the local branch of the NUT, says staff at other schools could take "discontinuous action", including half-day strikes, if talks with the local education authority fail.

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It wants staff at the school in Wilson Avenue, Brighton, to carry on working at the new college.

Around 60 per cent of teachers at the authority's 80 schools are NUT members and are expected to support any action.

Brighton and Hove Council is closing Marina High in the summer under a "fresh start" plan and reopening it in September in a bid to raise standards.

So far only three of the 40 staff, including the head teacher Tony Garwood, have been offered positions.

Dick Boland, regional secretary for the NUT in the South East, said: "We are considering the possibility of strike action if negotiations do not progress as we want them to."

Sue Suleyman, secretary of the Brighton and Hove Teachers' Association, said no pupil about to take GCSE or A-level exams would be affected by any strike action.

She added: "Teachers right across the authority feel very strongly about this. They are angry that staff at Marina High can be cast aside.

"If Marina High can close there's nothing to stop it happening at any other school."

Denise Stokoe, director of education at Brighton and Hove Council, said she was aware of the NUT's concerns.

She added: "We are currently in discussions with the unions involved and would obviously like to achieve a satisfactory outcome for all concerned."

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