STANWAY School has thrown its hat into the ring to open a new school in Colchester.

The school has submitted its application to the Department for Education to open a free school on the site of the former Alderman Blaxill School.

Head teacher Jonathan Bland said if approved, the school would be called Stanway West and would copy the educational ethos practised at Stanway School.

Alderman Blaxill School closed at the end of the summer term as falling roles made it unviable.

However, thousands of new homes have been built in Colchester and by 2017, there will not be enough places for all the secondary school students.

Mr Bland said: "The children who live in the area deserve to have a local school and it should be well led and well run.

"Stanway West would be a separate school with its own head but with the same culture and ethos of Stanway School. This is a new era."