The King Alfred Leisure Centre is being looked at as a site for a new school.

Brighton and Hove City Council has confirmed it is considering the Hove seafront plot as a possible home for a new primary after plans for a £290 million housing and leisure complex collapsed.

The council has been scouring the area for a site for a new school to meet the demands of a growing population. It has been allocated Government funding which would pay for the construction.

Staff at the council education department said there were few plots large enough available and the King Alfred was being considered.

The future of the site has been uncertain since Sunday when financial backers finally pulled out of an ambitious scheme including two "wobbly" towers designed by architect Frank Gehry.

Campaigners who opposed that project have called for the rundown leisure centre to be refurbished, others have argued it should be kept available for major redevelopment.

It is not yet known how much of the site would be taken up by a new primary, if that project was pursued, and where exactly it would be located.

Councillor Averil Older, who represents Central Hove, said she was in favour of a school being built in conjunction with a refurbishment of the sports centre.

Coun Older said: "It seems a good idea to me to build a school by the side of the centre. There is space there for a small school.

"I've heard people say that it is dangerous to have a primary school that close to the seafront but that sounds ridiculous to me."

The council has already expressed interest in using sites at either the Connaught Centre, in Connaught Road, Hove, or the disused Holy Trinity Church, in Blatchington Road, Hove, for a primary.

The Connaught Centre belongs to City College Brighton and Hove and it has made clear it intends to continue to use it for several years.

The college had previously discussed selling it as part of a redevelopment of its facilities across the city.

Holy Trinity Church is Grade II listed and has been singled out by the Victorian Society as a key conservation target.

The council's cabinet is due to discuss options for the King Alfred at a meeting at Hove Town Hall on Thursday, November 20, at 4.30pm.

The education department is working on a report about the new primary school which is not due to be presented until next year.