Defiant grant-maintained schools in Bradford have united to fight plans for their closure as part of the most radical shake-up of education in 30 years.

Four of the district's 15 GM schools - Hilltop CE First, Keelham First, Russell Hall First and Wibsey Middle - said today Bradford education authority had no power to close them.

The authority admitted this but stressed the proposals for GM schools were statements of preference which would be submitted to the Secretary of State for Education as part of plans to scrap middle schools.

But the rebellion has added to the growing controversy over the planned closure of 70 schools in Bradford.

And fears are mounting of a mass exodus of teachers concerned about the upheaval and job security and parents are rushing to move their children out of schools that will close.

Teachers at Brookfield First in Greengates have also called on the LEA to rethink their proposed demise after spending £107,000 on refurbishing classrooms - work that only finished a fortnight ago.

Under the Education Act 1988, the character and size of a GM school cannot be altered, or the premises sold, without the consent of the Secretary of State.

GM governing bodies are meeting governors and parents before putting forward their alternative proposals for change.

Education secretary David Blunkett would then be called upon to make a final decision.

Education chairman Jim Flood said: "It is important we work together. The age of opting out and confusion is over."

But Gordon Hart, the head at Wibsey Middle, said: "Our governors are adamant that closure is not an option."

Stephen Hannam, head of Hilltop CE First, vowed: "We are going to fight."

Michael Ford of Russell Hall and Kolina Garbutt of Keelham would not comment further until they had met with parents.

But Mike Joyce, whose four-year-old daughter, Eleanor, is one of 95 children at Keelham, said: "It is a wonderful school, it would be a crime to close it. Eleanor has really come on there, the staff and the head are superb. It is absolute nonsense to close it."

Dale Smith, the opposition education spokesman for the Tories on the council, said: "These schools are beacons of excellence and there seems to be a degree of vindictiveness and malicious intent against schools who have shown a more independent ethos and spirit."

A spokesman for the Department of Education said today: "The Secretary of State would have to evaluate the overall picture, before he could comment or make a decision"

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