Trafford Council is to bid for the site of a private school which shut down last year to allow for the expansion of the secondary school next door.

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

Loreto Prep 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.

ALSO READ: Altrincham: Former House of Fraser ready to reopen in town.

At the end of last month they received a big boost when Loreto Prep 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 although the owner is understood to be asking for a review of the ruling.

Now Trafford Council is to bid for the site of the private school after approval this week. If successful it will allow for the expansion of North Cestrian by an additional 300 places.

ALSO READ: Ex-Trafford councillor becomes Conservative Party candidate.

Karina Carter, the council's executive member for children's services: "We are delighted to have reached this first milestone in our aim to acquire the former Loreto Prep School site for North Cestrian School. 

"Our secondary schools are some of the best in the country, and this means places are in high demand. The extra capacity this expansion would bring would be a real bonus for families in the Altrincham area.

"We explored the potential to enlarge North Cestrian in 2022, but concluded the site was too small to enable meaningful expansion. The opportunity to add the former Loreto Prep site to North Cestrian's estate would make all the difference, giving the school the space to add new classrooms and resolve larger space challenges such as for dining and sports facilities.

"The next step will be to formally submit a bid for the land, which will happen in the coming weeks." 

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