VACANT office premises at 12 Bolton Bridge Road have been leased by the bosses of Ilkley College to run further education courses once the Wells Road campus is sold off.

The move is intended to be a temporary step while permanent premises are found.

Because the building is small, college owners Bradford and Ilkley College Corporation say they will also make more use of the Burley Grange site for adult education when the Ilkley campus is closed next year.

A statement released yesterday says that the college are eventually hoping to lease All Saints School buildings on Leeds Road - which the local authority will need to get rid of once the new All Saints primary is built on Skipton Road - and turn it into a permanent adult education site for the Wharfe Valley.

Ilkley parish councillor Audrey Brand said the college should have used one of its own buildings on the campus site, called Hillside, for future education classes instead of selling it off .

College bosses said that it would cost too much money to refurbish Hillside so it could be used for teaching. It is presently used for student accommodation.

But Coun Brand said that the building on Bolton Bridge Road did not have enough parking provision and was too close to a notoriously dangerous junction.

"It is a waste of money refurbishing temporary premises on Bolton Bridge Road when it could have been spent on a permanent place like Hillside," said Coun Brand.

College bosses said: "A service can be provided from Semptember 1999 using both the Bolton Bridge site and the present Burley Grange site."

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