Work to open a new school in Lichfield this year has taken another step forward with the transfer of the site from a housing developer to Staffordshire County Council.

The authority has already started building Anna Seward Primary School, which is due to welcome its first pupils in September. The school is being named after renowned 18th century poet Anna Seward, who lived in the city for much of her life and was known as The Swan of Lichfield.

The land is being handed over to the council by housebuilder Taylor Wimpey, which is developing the Deanslade site. And on Wednesday (January 4) the council's property sub-committee backed a proposal to grant a 125-year lease to the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership to run the school.

The council's deputy leader Philip White said: "The transfer (to the council) is a bit later than we would usually expect but we can hopefully get on with making that happen."