IT sounded too good to be true.

Those are the words of the man in charge of Southampton City Council when apprenticeship trainer ATL announced ambitious plans to breathe new life in to an empty former school building.

Royston Smith was leader of the authority when the firm asked to take up a lease for the old Hightown Secondary School in Thornhill.

Just months later, the company collapsed into voluntary liquidation with debts of £6m owing to 200 creditors, leaving hundreds of students across the country fearing for their futures.

Now Southampton City Council is owed more than £44,000 in business rates – though ATL was only paying a “peppercorn” rent for the building, according to a council spokesman.

The Tory councillor said he was told that the firm wanted to bring state-of-theart facilities to the building and train up hundreds of young apprentices.

He harboured great hopes that the scheme would prove a success and only backed the arrangement after seeking professional assurances that it was viable.

He told the Daily Echo: “As with all things you can get seduced by thinking everything is rosy in the garden and it turns out it was not. ATL, unfortunately in the end, could not do it.

“It was a disappointment to me.

“Most times when things look a bit too good to be true, they often are.

“I sought assurances and received them from those who were professional and tending to the details.

“It would have been great to have somebody to take on the site and achieve the things they wanted on the site.

“I feel desperately sorry for (those affected) and I would say that although they have not been intentionally let down, ultimately they have been let down.”

As previously reported, ATL shut down in September just months after opening its £500,000 centre in Burgoyne Road, leaving dozens of aspiring plumbers, builders and electricians facing uncertainty.

More than £1.3m is owing to the Skills Funding Agency and tens of thousands more owing to the tax man.

The collapse could be probed by the Public Accounts Committee at Westminster while Hampshire MPs Chris Huhne and John Denham have both called for inquiries.

The Daily Echo received a report distributed to creditors which included hardhitting allegations about the running of the company in its final few months.

Its author, the one remaining director Eddie Copeland, alleged internal investigations and talks revealed that students were enrolled “for the sole purpose of claiming monies from the SFA with no intention of fulfilling apprenticeship requirements”.

Mr Copeland has since told the Daily Echo that he was “shocked and deeply distressed”

when he heard the SFA was to undertake an audit in the summer and stayed on as director to “protect the interests of apprentices”.

He also distanced himself from involvement in or responsibility for the administration of the contract the firm had with the SFA.

The SFA has maintained that ATL passed the “necessary test” when it was being considered for funding.

They handed the firm £4.4m over three years.