BOURNEMOUTH'S crisis-hit free school is asking the borough council for permission to use Dorset House as its base after plans to move to a site at Hurn collapsed.

The Echo revealed in July that Parkfield School's move to new premises at Bournemouth Airport this September has been delayed again until 2017, after problems with bats and asbestos.

School leaders had initially hoped to move into temporary buildings at the Hurn site from next month - but that plan was abandoned after problems with planning permission.

Now Parkfield is applying to Bournemouth Borough Council for permission to continue using its existing base, Dorset House in Christchurch Road, for another year.

A temporary change of use from an office block to a school was granted for Dorset House in 2015. That permission expired in 2015, and the building reverted to office use.

The school then used government legislation on permitted development to extend the permission for the 2015/16 academic year. But that legislation can only be used once per site, so the school must now get Bournemouth Borough Council's approval to continue using it as a school.

Under permitted development rules, councils have 56 days to make their decision, and can impose conditions on the change of use if they have concerns about transport or noise.

Parkfield's application says no changes are planned to the way Dorset House is used in the interim and that no issues with transport or noise have arisen in the three years the school has been on site.