Members of the planning committee have accepted recommendations from officers that the Grade 2 listed building be converted into a school, with additional buildings and two extensions and corridors to link the different structures.

The centre will house a 40 place nursery, 90 place school and a Montessori teacher training centr.

Approval was given subject to restrictions on landscaping, access and all car parks to be completed before the school opens.

Nathan Archer of the Montessori School at Stalingborough, said the new school could be open as early as next January and will create 23 jobs.

Although all age groups will be catered for at Caistor, nursery and out of school provision will continue to operate from the Stallingborough nursery base.

Concerns over additional traffic at the notorious Caistor Top junction, have been met by assurances that comings and goings would be staggered and that parents would have to park on school premises and collect children from the classroom, not park on the road outside.

The school will use its own bus to transport children from Stallingborough.

Lincolnshire Montessori Director Sylvia Archer said: "We are thrilled to be developing a larger Montessori school for children from birth to 11 on one site in Caistor. This is a first for the county of Lincolnshire, and we are one of only 30 Montessori Primary schools in the UK.

"We have been working hard over the last 18 months to secure appropriate land and property. Top House provides substantial space and ten acres of land for nursery and school. Building on our success in Stallingborough, we are very proud to be growing our Montessori famil.

"We hope to work closely with community groups over the coming months and years to maximise use of the space which offers a wealth of opportunities."

Montessori is a different method of education based on self-directed activity on the part of the child and careful observation on the part of the teacher or directress. It stresses the importance of adapting the child's learning environment to his or her developmental level, and of the role of physical activity in absorbing concepts and practical skills. It is also characterized by the use of specialist self-correcting equipment to introduce various concepts.