Arson-hit school to be redeveloped for education

A fire-hit former school described as a "blight" on the community will reopen as an educational facility.

Residents warned the former Bluebell Meadow Primary School buildings in Trimdon Grange, County Durham, had become an anti-social behaviour hotspot, repeatedly targeted by vandals.

Firefighters tackled a blaze at the site in September amid concerns about young people getting on to the premises.

Durham County Council confirmed the site was being redeveloped after hearing a plea to clean it up.

The site, previously known as Trimdon Grange Infant School, has been empty since three local schools were merged in 2021 due to a fall in numbers.

Before the damage, the site was used by film crews to create part of the ITV crime drama Vera.

Conservative James Rowlandson, cabinet member for resources, investment and assets, said the school "will continue to be used as an educational facility".

"The sale has been concluded and contractors are on site bringing the school up to date and back into use," he said.

Trimdon and Thornley's ward councillor Lucy Hovvels, Labour and Co-operative, warned the site had become a local eyesore.

She said: "Many of residents who live close by have endured week after week of fires being set alight, anti-social behaviour, criminal damage, fear, vandalism, and crime.

"It is unkept with boarded-up windows and overgrown weeds and it is a blight on the environment, which impacts residents and also other properties nearby."

The council, which is run as an alliance, said it paid £22,000 to a security firm to patrol the site following the fire, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

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