A BURNLEY primary school deemed surplus to requirements two years ago is being sold but council bosses are remaining tight-lipped about who wants to snap it up.

Healey Wood Primary School merged with Rosewood Primary School, in Rosehill, as part of a scheme to reduce the number of surplus primary places in the town.

Since then, Healey Wood has been left empty while county councillors worked out what to do with it.

A report to Coun Tony Martin, a Burnley county councillor and the authority's head of finance, has revealed that the school site has now been sold.

It reveals that the building has been sold for considerably less than the actual value of the site, because the proposed use would benefit the community.

A spokesman for the authority said: "Two community groups had expressed an interest in obtaining the property to provide community facilities and both groups were invited to submit bids.

"It was also considered that, because neither organisation would be in a position to buy at market value, any disposal would take place under the well-being provisions of the Local Government Act.

"Bids were received and analysed and the view was taken that not only was one of the offers for the freehold the higher of the two, but it also included a use more likely to contribute to the promotion or improvement of the economic, social and environmental well-being of the area and its residents."