SU57886-04.jpg Sutton Council has overspent on legal fees for the new Stanley Park High school by nearly £600,000.

The council has spent a total of £764,500 on lawyers, after a dispute with NHS Sutton and Merton over the sale of the Orchard Hill site in Carshalton where the new school is being built, and pursuing a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) to purchase land for an access road.

It had originally budgeted £170,000 for legal costs. The PCT also spent £190,000 in legal fees in relation to the land sale.

Councillor Kirsty Jerome, Sutton's education spokeswoman, said it was inevitable a £50m project would suffer significant legal fees.

She said the Benhill Gospel Trust last week withdrew their objections to the CPO.

It means the land purchase should now go ahead without further problems.