A CONTROVERSIAL academy is running massively over budget before a single brick has been laid, a leaked document reveals.

More than £15million has already been spent on Darwen's controversial academy, bringing the expected cost to over £48million, compared to the £34million originally stated.

A leading parents' lobby group said no matter how good the academy was when finished, it was poor value for taxpayers' money that could have been spent improving dozens of schools.

The internal Blackburn with Darwen Council document also reveals that if a public inquiry rules that the academy cannot be placed in the Redearth Triangle, the authority will be left with at least £8.5million to pay back.

New council leader Colin Rigby said he had been surprised by the figures but that his ruling coalition was "saddled" with decisions made by the previous Labour administration.

Deputy Labour leader Coun Andy Kay said the costs had risen from what was first anticipated but this was because of delays brought on by the antics' of protesters and the booming housing market.

The leaked document reveals that £14.8million will be spent acquiring and clearing the triangle to make way for the super-school, with £6.1million coming from the housing market renewal (HMR) scheme through the regeneration agency Elevate.

Of that £11.7million has already been spent - £8.9million on homes, £2.2million on commercial premises, and £670,000 on site preparation.

When plans to clear homes in the Redearth Triangle were first announced in August 2004, terrace houses in the town changed hands for £25,000, now they go for £70,000.

The council will end up borrowing £7.7million to pay the bill, and the regional development agency has also stumped up some money, said council chiefs.

If the site does not get used as an academy the council would have to pay back the Elevate cash, and would be left with just £1.7million from the sale of the site.

This would leave the council with £6.8million of debt and nothing to show for it.

The academy is yet to be given the green light, as the public inquiry, which starts next month, will decide whether to confirm the council's compulsory purchase orders for the remaining homes on the site.

Nick Seaton, of the campaign for real education, said: "This sort of expen-diture cannot produce good value for money, no matter how effective the school eventually becomes.

"For that type of money you could improve dozens of schools in urgent need of investment."

Coun Kay said: "Obviously compensation levels have been going up as confidence in Darwen has increased, but you can't expect to get a site for nothing. It's going to be a top class building, and I am sure that Darwen deserves no less.

"Yes, costs have gone up as time had gone on, but that's partly because of the delays caused by the antics of certain groups."

The ruling coalition, made up of Tories, Lib Dems, and the For Darwen party, decided to forge ahead with the academy last week after been presented with the figures.

It reviewed the situation but decided that too much money had already been spent and the cost of changing the plans would be prohibitive.

Coun Rigby said: "These figures came as a surprise to ourselves, but we are committed now and it is impossible to walk away."

Andrew Lightfoot, deputy chief executive of the council, said: "The HMR contribution to the acquis-ition of properties on the Redearth site has not been increased.

"Additional council costs were approved through the capital programme."

The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) has designated £34million for the scheme, and of that between £3million and £4million has already been paid by the Government and academy trust on design and technical fees, according to the document.

The remaining £30million will be spent on construction, fixtures and fittings, and computer networks.

Rod Aldridge, sponsor of the academy, was unav-available for comment.