HUNDREDS of Bitterne Park School alumnus visited their old stomping ground for one last time before it is demolished.

600 former students and staff spanning over more 65 years returned the school in Copsewood Rd, Southampton.

In attendance was former head teacher, who taught from the years 1974 to 1990, Barri Hurford-Jones.

Also in attendance was Mrs Ford a former history teacher, who taught the school’s current head of health and social care department teacher, Miss Fynan.

The building will be demolished in the autumn of this year, with a new building erecting on the schools land in September.

Deputy Headteacher, Chris Whitbread said: “We got all of the of the attendees to sign in with the year they left the school and to our amazement we had someone from every year from when the school opened to when it closed last year. More than 600 people turned up to see the school which really showed the Bitterne Park is a heart of the community.

“People were in tears, others were hugging each other. It was full of people reminiscing.”

The school put the event in their leaflets and then people posted on social media, which Mr Whitbread said made a lot more people aware of the open event.

People travelled from London, Wiltshire and the Midlands.

There were generations of families enjoying the school open day as well groups of people who studied at the school in the 70s and 80s. It was a very nice community event. Once it got onto social media websites, we realised we needed to get more cups of tea ready,” said Mr Whitbread.