A teacher from Oxford's Peers School appeared before scores of MPs at the Commons to tell them why he thought it should not become the city's first academy.

Ian Jones, who has worked at the Littlemore school for 27 years, spoke on behalf of the Oxfordshire Anti-Academy Alliance (AAA) at the MPs' committee of inquiry into academies.

Hundreds of people from across the country gathered for the inquiry, which was run by a committee of MPs who are working to collate information on academies nationwide. Their findings are due to be published over the summer.

If the plans for Peers gets the go-ahead, the school would close next summer and reopen in September 2008 as the Oxford Academy, which would be sponsored by the Diocese of Oxford and Oxford Brookes University. A new school would be built on the Peers site, which would be complete by September 2010.

The Government would provide £25m towards the building of the school, while the sponsors would put £1.5m into a trust fund for educational activities at the academy.

But the plans have not been welcomed by all, as Mr Jones told MPs.

He told last week's inquiry the Oxfordshire AAA group feared the diocese might, in time, impose a Christian ethos on the academy which could lead to selection on religious grounds.

Mr Jones, negotiating officer for the Oxfordshire branch of the teaching union NASUWT, said: "The diocese may have given us assurances at this stage that this won't be the case, but that's all they've given, assurances. There are no cast-iron guarantees that there won't be selection criteria."

Mr Jones also raised concerns over the Peers buildings. He said: "Peers is in need of major refurbishment. It serves some of the most deprived parts of Oxford and has been scandalously overlooked time and again.

"We are constantly told that if an academy goes ahead there will be a multi-million-pound rebuild. It is acknowledged that there is great need and that funds can be found by Government.

"But if we don't agree to handing over Peers now, it will get nothing, which is atrocious. We either need it or we don't."

Mr Jones added: "Nor do we find any comfort in the argument that the Church of England already runs lots of schools in the county. There is a world of difference between the local county primary C of E and an academy wholly run by Church of England Academy Services Ltd."

About 40 people attended a public meeting about the plans at Peers yesterday.

Parent Pauline Walker said her son, Hezekiah, had come to Peers with some special educational needs and had received a lot of support from staff.

She said: "I'm worried that he might get pushed out in the academy because he's not developing as fast as some children."

But Leslie Stephen, educational director for the diocese, said: "One of the key things that this approach brings is not just resources but also support."

The final public consultation session is due to take place tonight, Tuesday, at Pegasus School in Blackbird Leys at 3.30pm. It is open to all and will see representatives from the Diocese of Oxford, Oxford Brookes University and Oxfordshire County Council present the plans before taking questions.