DELIGHTED school leaders have welcomed a display of plans for a new £5m school in Pimperne.

Staff and parents have campaigned for a new home for Pimperne Primary School since North Dorset changed from three-tier to two-tier education in 2005.

School governor John Tanner said a funding crisis at Dorset County Council would not affect plans for the new buildings, which could accommodate up to 175 pupils.

He said: “We have been assured that this money is going to be available. I hope the school is rapidly developed following a planning application and full public consultation.”

He said his experience as a district councillor for Blandford’s Station ward meant he would demand proper parking arrangements at Pimperne’s new school.

“The new Archbishop Wake School on Black Lane has severe traffic difficulties,” he said. “People from the top of the town who come southwards can’t walk their children to the school, pick up their car, and get to work in a reasonable time.

“I want a drop off point for parents to avoid a similar situation in Pimperne,” he said.

Many children at Pimperne Primary School have been taught in temporary classrooms since the education shake-up boosted pupil numbers.

Dorset County Council’s education spokesperson, Melissa Wheeler, said education chiefs had always intended to provide new school buildings for Pimperne’s pupils.

“Temporary accommodation was provided, but it was always recognised that the school needed to be replaced to provide the appropriate level of permanent accommodation, and also to deal with some of the limitations that exist with the current building.

“The site we are proposing is next door to the Village Hall site - which is actually the one we started with, but we have also looked at others around the village to see what alternatives might have been available,” she said.

A formal planning application will be made in the New Year.