Arctic explorer joins residents’ protest against private school

More than 1,000 people have written to a council in protest at plans to relocate a private school to a busy junction.

Arctic explorer Christina Franco and residents around Bassett Road in Ladbroke Grove are campaigning against the proposal by Chepstow House, a private co-ed school, to move into a former 24-bedroom council house for which it has offered £8 million.

“It is a dangerous corner,” said Ms Franco, who has lived in the area for 11 years. “A lot of trucks come up the road. I walk my three-year-old son up to the park and find crossing the roundabout more terrifying than crossing the Arctic. When I raised it with the council they dismissed it because no one has died there.”

The school is run by Alpha Plus Group, which manages some of Britain’s most expensive private schools, including Wetherby Prep, once attended by Prince William. A spokesman said its plan would turn a run-down building into a “vibrant education establishment”.