A MEMBER of Parliament is spearheading a campaign to keep a closed Otley school for the community.

Harold Best believes All Saints Junior School, North Parade, should not go for housing but be kept in public use - possibly for the library.

And the Leeds North West Labour MP says if current High Court action - taken by parents of children at the school to reverse the closure of the site fails, it is vital that the buildings are not sold off for private use.

"It is certainly my view, and I hope also that of the people of Otley, that the school should be kept in public use. It would make a good location for the relocation of the library services and I can't think of a better use for it.

"I know there is a desperate need for housing, but to take this building out of public use would rob the town of one of its jewels. It is a beautiful piece of Victorian work and a lot could be done with it, it just needs a bit of vision."

Last week it was revealed that the school site - jointly owned by the Bradford Diocese and Leeds City Council - was to be put up for sale within the next few weeks.

The Bradford Diocese stands to get under 20 per cent of the site, while the city council will get the rest.

The council also announced that it intended to relocate the Otley After School Club, which currently meets in the school annexe, Bridge Street, into the Cross Green Community Centre.

Mr Best, who is meeting with Leeds City Council officers to discuss the future of the building, believes careful use of the site could play a major role in the regeneration of the town.

"It is a very important development area and if it was in public use it could give Otley the kind of vibrancy it had in the early 19th and 20th centuries," he said.

Otley Market Town/Otley Town Partnership Programme Manager, Ian Stewart, said the future use of the school, provided High Court action fails, was part of the recently published town centre action plan.

"One of the projects is to try and make use of the building for the out of school club, a library, tourist information centre and

possibly one or two other social interests," he said.

He said the OTP would be trying to

influence Leeds City Council on what it planned to do with the building, but feared if it went on the market it would likely be for housing.

"If it goes on the market, there is no doubt that it will go as residential because that will be the most lucrative."