A COMMUNITY has been given six months to save its beloved school building.

Yarmouth Primary School pupils finished their final term at their building on Mill Road and will return in January to a newly-built primary school in Freshwater.

The future of the Yarmouth school building is now uncertain, having been transferred to the ownership of the Isle of Wight Council from Portsmouth Diocese in August last year.

It is the council's intention to market the property in the new year but the authority has said it does not have any further plans.

At a public meeting last night (Tuesday), Yarmouth Town Council revealed it had been successful in securing the building as an asset of community value.

This will give the community six months to put together a bid to keep the building for the town before any sale of the site can be completed.

The town council has set up a steering group to discuss its future and work out a plan for what to do with it, involving members of the public, community groups and councillors.

Earlier this month, it was revealed as part of the contract with the Department for Education for the £4.5 million new Freshwater school funding, the council must sell the site for the best price.

From the profit of the sale, £400,000 will go towards the cost of the new build school and the remaining cash will go to the Department of Education.

Last night Yarmouth residents said they had been misled over the government funding for the new school and had been assured over and over again during multiple consultations in 2019 and 2020 that there were no strings attached.

Cllrs Peter Spink and Chris Jarman, attending the public meeting, said they were not part of the IW Council when those discussions were taking place but were trying now to find out what exactly had happened and what was in the contract.