Industrial units, warehouses and even an old church are being considered as a possible site for a new free school.

Parents behind the Montessori Free School bid say they are looking at a range of newpossible locations for the proposed school.

The Department for Education rejected the organisers’ bid to receive pre-opening permission last month which would have allowed the school to open in September 2014.

However, the bidding process reopens in the autumn meaning the school could open as early as January 2015.

The school would be the first of its kind in Brighton and Hove and teaching would be built around the philosophy of the movement’s founder, Italian doctor Maria Montessori.

The proposed 240-pupil school would have three classes of three-, four- and five-year-olds, three classes of six, seven and eight-year-olds and two classes of nine and ten-year-olds.

There would also be a 30-place nursery.

High demand

The parents and teachers group behind the school say they will reapply at the next earliest opportunity in September.

Organisers say their bid was rejected because of a lack of financial knowledge in their bid team and they are appealing for more volunteers with financial expertise.

A former accountant joined their team this week.

For their previous bid, the school had 150 parents indicate they would make the school their first choice and organisers said more had raised an interest since.

Project Leader Cath Oddhayward said they were keen to base the school in Hove to meet the high demand for primary school places in the area.

Brighton and Hove City Council announced last month that Hove Police Station in Holland Road would be converted into a 480-place junior school.

The King’s Church of England Free School bid for a permanent site on BHASVIC fields was rejected last month while the Bilingual Primary School is looking to build a new school in The Droveway, Hove.

Mrs Oddhayward said: “We don’t need a new school building although that would be lovely. We are looking at industrial buildings, warehouses.

“It’s more about having space to move about, we don’t have the same restrictions as other schools.”

A DfE spokeswoman said: “The process is very competitive and only the strongest applications are accepted.”

The school will be hosting a 1km sponsored family walk between Marrocco’s Café and the Peace Statue on Hove Seafront.

For more details visit their website.