A SCHOOL'S expansion plans have been delayed by planners after changes were made to the application.

When members of Harrogate Borough Council met this week, they deferred an application for the Ripon Cathedral Choir School's Whitcliffe Lane site.

The school wants to build extra classrooms to create a new nursery and pre-preparatory departments.

Councillor Nigel Simms said the application had been deferred because a revised plan had been submitted.

He said the issue would be decided at a future meeting, at which only the latest plan would be considered.

The choir school was established after it was funded by the sale of books from the cathedral library in 1961.

Council planning officers had recommended approval of the latest plans because it involved expansion of facilities at a school and was in line with council policies.

The school's planning consultants said that without the development, the school's viability would be in doubt.