A PEER of the realm is backing a consortium battling to save a school which folded following a cash crisis.

Baroness Margaret Eaton, a life peer and former leader of Bradford Council, wants to see Malsis School in Glusburn - where her son was educated - back in operation.

The private school, for pupils aged up to 11, was closed by its trustees when it ran out of money and was placed in administration.

Former pupil Ryan O'Neill and his business parter Adrian Lisle - the pair run a London fashion firm - have been inviting investors to join a consortium committed to seeing the school re-opened.

Several million pounds are believed to have been pledged to help open the school again. Mr Lisle has been speaking to local parish councils to outline details of the plan.

Baroness Eaton said she was "more than happy" to give her backing to the proposals.

The baroness, who was made a life peer in 2010, said: "I have absolutely no connection to the plan, except that my son is a former pupil, but I think it's an excellent idea to reopen Malsis and I will be giving it whatever backing I can.

"A reopened Malsis would bring a very significant boost to the local economy."

The school closed after a bid to merge it with Giggleswick School did not come off.

Leeds-based receiver Ernst and Young (EY) is managing the school and many of its assets have already been auctioned off - including a carved bear, touched by pupils for good luck, which sold for £10,000.

All bids for the school were to have been placed with the receivers by earlier this month.

A fall in the number of pupils was a major reason for the demise of the school, the administrators said soon after it closed. Almost 50 staff lost their jobs.

The school's 61 pupils and their parents had been informed early in November that the building would permanently close at the end of the autumn term, on December 10, when it would no longer be able to operate as a going concern.

EY took then took over as administrators.

Charles King, EY executive director and joint administrator to Malsis School Trust, said: "A fall in pupil numbers combined with pressure on fees impacted Malsis School Trust’s cash flow and the school could not continue to fund the resulting substantial losses."

Outline planning permission for 50 homes in the school grounds has previously been given.