CERNE Abbas children are set to leave their Victorian school after planners gave the go-ahead for a new building in the village.

Members of Dorset County Council's planning committee granted outline consent for a new school on Simsay Field off Alton Lane.

The permission means the county council can now arrange to buy the land, Chris Stokes, the council's team leader of development control, told members.

He said the application was to establish the principle of a new school on the eastern part of the field, away from an archaeologically sensitive area close to the abbey ruins.

It featured some suggestions about the height and form of the building and other elements of the development, but details would be resolved at a later stage.

Mr Stokes said the first school had a capacity for 75 children aged four to nine and currently had 59 pupils. The new school would also have a capacity for 75 children but would overcome problems with the existing site in Duck Lane where the Victorian main building was supported by mobile classrooms and still did not provide all the facilities needed.

It also failed to meet standards under disability laws.

The plan had drawn 93 letters with 73 in support and the rest either objecting or raising concerns.

County highways department wanted a condition included on providing a traffic management and calming plan to deal with the safety of vehicles and pedestrians using a narrow access.

Cerne Valley Parish Council supported the plan though called for concerns over a right of way, flooding, access and traffic to be resolved.

West Dorset District Council also backed the scheme but suggested a bund be built round part of the site to prevent flooding.

Members agreed that details could be explored later and voted unanimously to approve the application.