The Montessori School at Stalingborough will be relocating to the site to privately educate up to 130 children.

Planning councillors accepted recommendations from officers for 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, a 90 place school and a Montessori teacher training centre.

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

On behalf of the school, Nathan Archer said it could be open as early as January, bringing 23 jobs to the area.

Concious of concerns raised locally about parking and access at the notoriously dangerous junction, he said they would be attempting to sort these issues out.

Comings and goings would be staggered and parents would have to park on school premises to 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 it was a first for Lincolnshire and the school was one of only 30 Montessori primary schools in the UK: “Top House provides substantial space and ten acres of land for the nursery and school. 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 method of education based on self-directed activity on the part of the child and careful observation from the teacher, adapting the child's learning environment to his or her developmental level.