An Altrincham school is on a mission to add to its capacity by up to 300 places by buying the site of the private school next door.

North Cestrian School is at the centre of a campaign to save the site of Loreto Preparatory School from residential redevelopment.

The private school shut down last year due to what its trustees, the Loreto Sisters, said was a combination of the coronavirus crisis and the cost-of-living crisis. They said these circumstances meant it was "unviable".

It led to a campaign to save the site from residential redevelopment which was started by local parents Alex Macleod and Lisa Waterhouse, and supported by Lee Bergin, the headteacher of North Cestrian School. 

Mr Bergin said the Hamblin Trust was in search of funds for buying the site of the private school at the time and, this month, they received a big boost when Loreto Preparatory School became an Asset of Community Value (ACV). It means the owner must allow the community the time to come up with a bid before it is allowed to sell the site to anyone else.

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The announcement was welcomed across the board including by the Labour Party candidate, Ben Hartley, and by the Tory Party candidate, Oliver Carroll, for the constituency at the next election.

Mr Hartley said: "There is a long way to go before we can say for certain the extra school places will be available but securing the site as an ACV is the first step to ensure this opportunity is not lost. 

"I would like to thank Alex and Lisa and the other local parents who persevered with their wish to see North Cestrian expand and I would like to thank the school for their desire to expand and to offer an outstanding education to more local children."

Mr Carroll said: "The expansion of North Cestrian is now one step closer to reality. 

"Keep on supporting this parent-led campaign of which I have been proud to have been a supporter since its inception." 

A spokesperson for Trafford Council said: “Trafford Council has been working extremely hard to address the huge demand for school places within the borough. We have also been lobbying the government and engaging with the Department for Education regarding the shortfall of school places in Altrincham and Sale. 

"We explained the current situation where currently we have 19 secondary schools, seven of those being selective and we are the admission authority for only one of those schools.

"We asked the government to work with our grammar schools to review their admissions criteria so that Trafford residents are given priority over those living outside of the borough.

“With regards to the sale of Loreto Prep and the opportunities this may present for the expansion of North Cestrian, we have been actively working to explore all options for the benefit of children and families in Trafford."

This article was written by Jack Tooth. To contact him, email jack.tooth@newsquest.co.uk or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.