A PRIVATE school's £5m bid to buy the Queen Anne School site in York was today revealed as the favourite in the race to win the prime city centre site.

A report out today lists four bids for the site, and councillors are to ask the public what they think before making a final decision.

The first bid is an all-education bid, which the Evening Press has already revealed as being from St Peter's School.

The other three involve using the listed Walter Brierley building for private education and the other section of the site for housing.

Bootham School is involved in at least one of the other bids.

Officers at the City of York Council are to tell councillors that they have grave concerns about the increased traffic that would be generated by the three part-housing bids.

They have also revealed that St Peter's upped its bid from £2.5 million to £5 million. The second and third bidders, which involve the same private school in different housing plans, are offering £7 million and the fourth, £5.6 million.

Council leader Coun Rod Hills said today: "The original bid to continue to use the site for education has been raised significantly from the £2.5 million to the £5 million now on offer.

"I would like to support this bid but I will, as promised, go to consultation with the local community to establish their view before any final decision is made."

The respective bids are for:

All education use

Education plus 82 town houses and apartments

Education plus 90 houses and apartments

Education plus 33 units of three-storey housing and apartments.

If councillors do decide not to take the highest bid and choose St Peter's, their decision will have to be referred to the Secretary of State.