PRIMARY schools in Peacehaven could be handed over to private business as part of a multi-million pound plan hatched by East Sussex County Council.

Private backers would be expected to replace or improve crumbling school buildings and carry out repairs. They would own the town's four primaries and lease them back to the county council. Teaching would remain in the hands of schools and the education authority. The four primaries which could benefit are: Peacehaven Infants; Hoddern Junior; Telscombe Cliffs Primary and Meridian Primary. The deal, worth around £20 million, includes plans for a new secondary school in the town. It is to be submitted to the Department for Education and the Treasury for approval. Private businesses will then be invited to bid for the contract. If everything goes to plan, a new secondary school will open its doors for lessons in September 2001. Parents have fought a 30-year battle for a school in the largest town in the county without its own secondary.

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