A famous Leeds playwright has lent his support to residents of the city who are campaigning to stop a former school from being turned into student flats.
The Royal Park Community Consortium (RPCC) said Alan Bennett had written in support of their fight to make the old school into a community centre.
Royal Park School in the Hyde Park area of Leeds has stood empty since 2004 and is in a state of disrepair.
Leeds City Council is to meet later to discuss how the building could be used.
Planners will review a council report which recommends that the building is sold to a developer, with an option for the community to have some space on the ground floor.
The RPCC, whose plan for the building includes a community market, cafe, creche, craft workshops, studio space and a gym, is staging a protest in Leeds to coincide with the meeting.
The council said it would be considering three bids for the school - two from businesses wanting to turn the school into flats and one from the RPCC.
Heather Kennedy, of the RPCC, said one their members had received a letter from Mr Bennett saying he backed their fight to keep school for the community.
Mr Bennett was born in Armley in Leeds and describes walking around the Hyde Park and Headingley areas of the city as a boy in his autobiography, Untold Stories.
Source : BBC
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