EYEBROWS were raised by Ashburton town councillors this week when it emerged that an ambitious new £3 million school project on their doorstep had not yet received planning permission.

Anxieties were expressed after South Dartmoor Community College announced last month that it had been given government backing for the purpose-built atrium studio school for 375 students at the Balland Lane site.

The permission issue was news to town councillors who, like Dartmoor planners, were puzzled by the announcement, which made headline news in the Mid-Devon Advertiser a fortnight ago.

But staff at the school acted quickly to reassure townsfolk and local bodies that permission would be duly sought once the fine points of the project were okay'd by their masters at the Department for Education (DfE).