Bulldozers are set to move in and knock down an empty Workington school.

There are hopes that the site of the former Southfield Technology College can be transformed into much-needed housing for elderly and vulnerable people. 

Gerald Humes, Moss Bay and Moorclose county councillor, believes the site would be perfect for new extra care housing for elderly people.

Extra care housing developments are a new generation of sheltered accommodation with on-site care services.

Mr Humes said: "South Workington has had so much development already with housing.

"We've saturated the possibilities for sites for domestic housing.

"I think over the last 18 months we’ve got 2,000 new dwellings in the town, so we’ve got that capacity to do something else.

"I would like to push for the Southfield site for extra care housing. It would be perfect, it is in its own grounds and has all the access and everything going for it. 

"It would fit in ideally and there’s a growing need for it. 

"The old Workington fire station was deemed to be too small for such a development but this wasn’t available then, so I think it has the potential to be a site for extra care housing."

A planning application to knock down the empty school on Moorclose Road has been approved by Cumbria County Council, which also owns the site.

The school closed in July and its staff and pupils are now bussed to Stainburn after it was decided that is where the new Workington Academy will be located. 

Workington Academy opened last month following the merger of Southfield and Stainburn Schools.

Work on constructing its new building on the existing Stainburn site has started. 

Documents relating to Southfield’s demolition reveal plans to knock it down and clear the site over the next three months.

It is understood tenders are being sought for the work. 

The county council has been told that the building has gone beyond its useful lifespan and was unsaleable in its current state.