THE former Durham Free School is to be demolished and the site sold – but its playing fields will be protected.

But what the campus, on Bradford Crescent, Gilesgate, will be used for remains uncertain, with pressure mounting for new community facilities to be created.

The buildings on the site have been disused since Durham Gilesgate Youth and Community Association (DGYCA) folded at Christmas, the Free School having been dramatically closed by Education Secretary Nicky Morgan last Easter.

Stuart Timmiss, Durham County Council’s head of planning, assets and regeneration, said it was planning to demolish the existing building “in the very near future” and the plot would be put up for sale.

However, its playing fields would be “retained and protected for sporting uses going forward”, he added.

Mr Timmiss said the demolition would “minimise ongoing costs” and ensure the potential for anti-social behaviour was reduced; adding the work would be carried out by expert contractors.

Roberta Blackman-Woods, Durham City’s MP, said she and local county councillors had worked hard to save the playing fields and welcomed confirmation they would be protected.

“It is important that communities have green spaces and I’m really glad that the area will benefit from the playing fields,” she said.

On the rest of the site, she said: “I hope that whatever the site is developed into is done so with consultation with the local community.

“It is particularly important that the local community is given a say on the type and nature of housing on the site and what any planning gain money that derives from it should be spent on.”

In a joint statement, Belmont’s three county councillors, Katie Corrigan, Patrick Conway and Bill Moir, said: “We share local residents’ wish for the former school playing fields to be retained for recreational purposes and are pleased our representations on the matter have been successful.

“As yet nothing has been decided about the former school site and all views are welcomed.”

The site was home to Durham Gilesgate Sports College until it closed amid falling rolls and budget cuts in summer 2013.

Durham Free School, a Christian academy, controversially moved in that September, but was closed just 18 months later amid claims of racism, sexism and homophobia.

DGYCA, which had been running for 30 years and provided leisure and learning for 1,000 people a week, closed after a consultants’ report suggested sparing the sports hall and gym while demolishing the other school buildings would cost more than £2million.