A FORMER Ribble Valley teacher is spearheading a groundbreaking £1million bid by parents to take over a primary school.

Peter Rose, 56, taught at St Augustine's RC High School in Billington for 25 years and achieved fame for creating the musical Yanomamo which saw pupils performing overseas alongside rock star Sting.

Just over a year ago he left East Lancashire for the remote village of Roy Bridge near Fort William, Scotland, with wife Hazel, 35.

His daughters Helena and Francesca, were enrolled in Roy Bridge Primary School which has been teaching children for over 200 years.

But he and local residents have been so angered by a local council's plans to close the school that they are trying to raise more than £1million to buy it and run it themselves.

The campaign has been described as groundbreaking in that it could set a new pattern for the provision of mainstream education in rural communities across the country.

Mr Rose, who was head of music at St Augustine's, said: "I am a parent who came to the community just over a year ago and is giving a message of support to everyone who has been fighting to keep the school open for several years.

"The school's central to the community and is in a very bad state of repair.