A Christian school in Durham targeted for closure by the Education Secretary after an Ofsted inspection found that it was "inadequate" is to challenge her decision.

Nicky Morgan announced that the Durham Free School, set up on Christian principles in 2012, would close as the Government would withdraw its financial support.

However, a spokeswoman for the school told Christian Today that there were "irregularities" in the decision and that it would appeal.

Sarah French said that the chair of governors, John Denning, would be writing to the Education Secretary raising concerns about the content and the tone of the Ofsted report. She also said that though Morgan had announced the closure in Parliament, the school had received a letter inviting it to submit representations by February 3 if it wished to contest the decision.

While the Ofsted report was severely critical of many aspects of the school's management and performance, it complimented acting head Julian Eisner and said that progress had been made. However, said French: "Other schools are put in special measures. There is a feeling that we were not given the chance to turn things round."

The Durham Free School has struggled to attract pupils and found itself facing a cash crisis last year. Its head teacher, Peter Cantley, was terminated on "performance grounds" but was fighting his case through an employment tribunal, arguing that he had been unfairly dismissed because of his "whistleblowing".

The Ofsted report, carried out in November, rated the school as inadequate in all four categories: leadership and management, behaviour and safety of pupils, quality of teaching and achievement of pupils. It was put in 'special measures', with inspectors saying that the standard of students' work was low and progress was inadequate, that leaders did not have high enough expectations and that students' "low aspirations" were not challenged.

Inspectors also said that governors placed "too much emphasis on religious credentials when they are recruiting key staff and not enough on seeking candidates with excellent leadership and teaching skills".

The report criticised standards of teaching and also noted that "Some students hold discriminatory views of other people who have different faiths, values or beliefs from themselves."

It said that progress was being made under acting head Julian Eisner, who had taken over after Cantley's departure.

A statement on the school's website said: "The comments of many parents about the difference the school has made in their childrens' lives have been truly heartwarming and the school will be using every avenue and opportunity to fight to remain open. It was a massive fight to get the school open in the first place, and, whilst we didn't expect to have to fight this battle again, we're not giving up on it now."