A SOUTHAMPTON school is set to be knocked down to make way for 50 new homes.

Radian Homes recently completed the purchase of the old Woolston Boys’ School site having been granted planning permission earlier this year to redevelop the site.

The development will consist of 15 three and four-bed homes and 35 one and two-bed apartments, 44 per cent (22 properties) of which will be affordable.

Work on the site, off Porchester Road, has started and is expected to be completed in spring or summer 2019.

Tim Willcocks, assistant director of land and new homes at Radian said: “We are pleased to confirm that preparation for the redevelopment has now begun.

“Radian is committed to providing high quality new homes across the south and we are pleased to deliver these much needed family homes and affordable housing for Woolston and the wider Southampton community.

“We have worked closely with Southampton City Council to ensure that our plans will enhance the neighbourhood and deliver positive benefits through the redevelopment of the site.”

The site had been used as a school since the 1930s, first as in infant school, then a secondary school, with several changes of name – Woolston Boys’ School, Woolston School and finally Woolston Business and Language College .

The site was last used as an annexe for the Oasis Academy Mayfield but has been empty since 2011.

Cllr Warwick Payne, Southampton City Council’s housing portfolio holder and a Woolston ward councillor, said: “My priority was to ensure whatever came forward with the site had as little negative impact on the wider community as possible.

“When the Oasis Academy chain decided that the Woolston site was surplus to requirements, there obviously needed to be a new vision coming forward for that site.

“Woolston School sits in the residential area so whatever scheme came forward had to be sympathetic towards that.

“The Radian housing plan will hopefully be in keeping with the local area because we are not dealing with large amounts of tall buildings and crucially, there will be 66 parking spaces to serve the 50 properties.”

Click through the gallery above to see pictures of Woolston School through the years.