QUESTIONS over Parkfield School's delayed move to a site near Bournemouth Airport - and the potential costs incurred by the delay - have been raised in Westminster.

Christchurch MP Chris Chope posed questions to the minister for schools three questions after the free school announced it would not be moving to the Hurn site in two months time, because of the discovery of a colony of bats at the former air traffic control centre.

Now almost 400 pupils will remain in a former office block at Dorset House in Christchurch Road, Bournemouth for another year, until the problems are resolved.

The planning permission to use Dorset House as a school was only for two years and will now need renewing. Parkfield will also have to pay a further year's rent for the site, despite the fact the Hurn site has been purchased for £3million.

But when Mr Chope asked the minister, Edward Timpson, what the additional cost to the public purse would be, Mr Timpson said: "We do not expect there to be any cost to the public purse as a result of the one year delay in Parkfield School being able to move to the new site at Hurn."

He also confirmed the Education Funding Agency first became aware that the Hurn site is a habitat for bats in June 2015.

Parkfield's planning application for the Hurn site included an ecological appraisal report that concluded there was "negligible or low bat roost potential" in all the buildings Parkfield intended to use. Natural England also considered the application and did not find a reason for objecting to it.

But Mr Timpson said: "A full site bat survey was not undertaken prior to the purchase of the Hurn site for Parkfield School as these are usually undertaken by contractors as part of the design and planning permission process."

Species include the Common Pipistrelle bat with activity from Soprano Pipistrelle and Noctule bats also observed.

Mr Timpson added: "The bat surveys were undertaken as soon as it became evident they were necessary and completed last week.

"The survey information is currently being analysed and the final results of the surveys are expected in the next few weeks."

He said an application to Natural England for bat removal licences will be made after planning approval is granted and bat boxes would be provided prior to the demolition works commencing.

Mr Chope told the Echo: "I'm a bit surprised that there's no cost to the public purse. Obviously there's a great degree of uncertainty now associated with all this.

"There are cases up and down the country where this (dealing with bats) has taken a lot longer to resolve. I hope they will get on with it but it's potentially quite a big issue."