A COUNCIL has told villagers it may be forced to compulsory purchase land in order to build a school following the withdrawal of a seller of a suitable site. Officers from North Yorkshire County Council told 25 villagers in Low Bentham that a new school is to be built to replace the existing schools in Low and High Bentham.

Low Bentham Primary School currently has nine pupils, and if it were to remain open it is expected that there would only be six children attending the school.

The process towards closure follows a request from the school's governors who had written to the council explaining that they feel it would no longer be possible for them to provide the full spectrum and quality of educational experience for all key stages from September this year.

The county council, which is the local educational authority, has been looking at merging the school with the primary school in nearby High Bentham. But these plans have been temporarily scuppered by a change in heart by the owner of a suitable site who had originally agreed to the sale of the land. The council says it will continue to search for alternative sites, but have not ruled out the possibility of compulsory purchasing the original site.

Bernadette Jones, head of strategic services at NYCC, said: "The county council has said right from the start it did not favour compulsory purchase because it is a complicated, lengthy and expensive way of acquiring land. But that is something we are definitely thinking about now.

People have until March 14 to make representations to the council regarding the proposed closure of the school. Following this a report will be submitted to the county council executive for approval. Then, if approved, statutory notice of closure will be given on April 18.

Then a six-week window will open for further representations to be made before a final decision on the school's fate is taken on June 24.

If the closure proposal is accepted at the end of this process then the school would close on August 31.