THE former York school building at the centre of a huge community row has finally been put up for sale.

City of York Council is asking for offers for Shipton Street School - a building so controversial it has had a whole community up in arms.

More than 2,000 Clifton residents successfully opposed Arc Light's attempt to build a 34-bed homeless centre on the site last year.

In the wake of the furore, council leader Steve Galloway said the site would be sold off for housing "as soon as possible".

Now "For sale" signs have gone up at the one-acre site, which could become a venue for affordable housing.

The school, which has a caretaker's house next door, has been empty since it closed in 2001. The former Labour council administration advocated using the site to build affordable housing three years ago, before it was considered for the Arc Light scheme.

The council did not sell the building to Arc Light, as the organisation withdrew its plans for the school before the sale could be considered by councillors.

Quentin Macdonald, the council's resources chief, said it was likely that any deal would be done through a process of sealed bids.

The final decision to sell the former school would come before the council's resources committee, with a deal being approved only if bids were acceptable.

Coun Macdonald said it was also highly likely that any sale of the building would be conditional on the developer later gaining planning permission - with the merits of any application being considered independently by planning chiefs.

Clifton ward councillor Ken King said: "I can imagine that the ruling group wants to get as much cash as it can for this building. The council is hard up for money.

"I would have liked to have seen it kept for community use, but I think the Lib Dems just want rid of it. I am reasonably happy with the prospect of affordable housing, but it would have to be really well done to avoid traffic congestion.

"Neither myself, nor my colleagues, have had any discussions whatsoever with anyone regarding the future use of the school. This will be a major development in the area, and there should be talks with representatives in the area."

Updated: 10:04 Tuesday, January 17, 2006