THE ACADEMY trust behind a rural Sussex boarding school for inner-city London pupils is being investigated by the Charity Commission.

The commission said its inquiry into the Durand Trust would focus on possible conflicts of interest and potential mismanagement of the school trust.

The trust opened up a boarding school in Stedham near Midhurst for 13 and 14-year-olds in December and its proposal sparked a race row in 2013.

The confirmation of a Charity Commission investigation follows a National Audit Office report published at the end of last year which found academy executive head Sir Greg Martin also earned cash running a leisure centre and a dating site from the trust’s main school site in Stockwell.

The commission inquiry, which opened last Wednesday, will look at the potential lack of separation between the management of the two charities and into concerns about the charity’s oversight of its investment assets.

The trust only filed its 2011 accounts with the commission last month - 561 days late.

The commission said it had been “engaging” with the charity since October and had “identified regulatory concerns” during that time.

Following the appearance before the Public Accounts Committee earlier this month of headteacher Sir Greg, who earned £400,000 from the school and as director of a company called GMG, committee chairwoman Margaret Hodge MP wrote to the commission to say they should have acted earlier to concerns a raised about the trust.