STUDENTS at Bournemouth's controversial Parkfield School are finally due to move into new premises in Christchurch at the start of term.

But work is still not finished and it will be several weeks before halls, including sports halls, are ready for use and landscaping is finished.

September 6 will see pupils of Bournemouth's only free school move from their town centre location to a new school on the site of a former air traffic control centre next to Bournemouth Airport.

Graham Exon, chairman of the Parkfield Interim Advisory Board, told the Daily Echo: "Everything is on course for the move.

"The building is being handed over this week. The halls will be completed by the end of September, as anticipated, and builders will be completing some external work.

"The school itself will be operational from day one of term on September 6."

The move will see children at the all-though school settled in permanent accommodation for the first time since it opened in 2013.

Pupils spent the first few weeks of the school's life at Butcher's Coppice scout camp before moving into Dorset House, a former office block in Christchurch Road.

Parents were told the premises would be used for just two years until the school moved to a purpose-built site in the town centre.

But finding a town centre site proved impossible and school leaders announced plans to move to Hurn.

Problems with asbestos and bats have been blamed for previous delays and the school has been rated as Requires Improvement.

Concerns have also been raised about how pupils will get to the new site and congestion with the airport traffic.