THE sale of the extensive buildings and grounds of the former St Mary's Convent School in Worcester has fallen through.

The nine acre complex in the Battenhall area of the city is now back on the market with its £4m price tag after an agree buyer failed to proceed.

Jonathan Mountford, of selling agents Andrew Grant, said: "We had agreed terms and contracts were drawn up but the completion date came and went without the proposed buyer coming forward. We eventually came to the conclusion they were not in a position to proceed and so the property is back on the market."

Mr Mountford said the potential buyer had been "a local party who was considering some kind of educational type use." While other uses, such as a care home or hotel, had been mooted they would involve application for change of use and would involve planning issues which could take some time to resolve.

The property is owned by an order of nuns based in Ireland and is based around an elegant Italianate style mansion built in the 1860s called Battenhall Mount. It was later bought by the Hon Percy Allsop, a member of a wealthy brewing family, who lavished money on it and enlarged the house three fold.

After the Allsop family business failed the house was sold and had been a school since 1934. When it closed in June last year it had 270 pupils.