A CLITHEROE school is waiting to hear if it will be granted the funds to turn wasteland into a community garden.

St James CE Primary School, in Greenacre Street, has applied for European and community grants worth around £10,000 to regenerate the area behind Whalley Road, close to the school.

The three-acre site was allocated to the school by Lancashire County Council two years ago.

Plans are now underway to set up a steering committee of governors, parents, teachers and local councillors to move the project forward.

Headteacher Paul Adnitt said: "We want to have a quiet and secure area that can be used for the community, as well as the school, including scouts, guides, and local residents. It will complement geography lessons and study.

"It used to be houses many, many years ago."

The 375 pupils will work on the site to set up specific areas of plants, as well as building a pond and picnic areas.

The school was recently nominated for a Certificate of Merit in the Lancashire Best Kept Village awards for a mural on a playground wall, painted and designed by pupils.

Primrose ward councillor Alan Knox, of Whalley Road, said the project will help boost an area that has recently lost a bid for a small nature reserve. He said: "We always welcome proposals to use space for the benefit of the community."