A LAND sale deal has deal has netted Bolton Council a cash windfall of more than £2 million.

The eight-acre site - which was part of the the Deane School farm - has been sold to builders Barratt.

But the money will all be used to fund a shake-up of special school education in the borough. The site off Wigan Road was used by the school's farm as grazing land for animals.

Barratt now plans to build 87 homes, ranging from one-bedroomed flats, two-bedroomed semis and three and four bedroomed detached.

The money will be used to fund a move of Woodside Senior School to the Deane School site and the move of Woodside Junior School to Masefield Primary School at Little Lever.

Cllr Bob Howarth, Labour leader of Bolton Council, said: "All this extra money will be used for education."

Tory deputy leader Cllr John Walsh added: "We would certainly want to make sure that all the school's present facilities including the farm, are maintained and enhanced." There was uproar when the plan to sell the land was first revealed and there were fears that the farm could be forced to close.

But teacher Mr Fred Tyldesley, who set up the farm when the school opened almost 30 years ago, said: "The farm is safe and it will be available for use by children from both Woodside and Deane Schools. I am pleased that the farm's land has been able to make such a contribution to the future development of the school.

"And I'm certainly glad we didn't accept an offer which we had for the land in the 1984 which was a new cow shed in return. We would have lost out on a lot of money."

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