Half-full Whitby schools and housing crisis an outrage - The Yorkshire Post says

However this is usually an issue faced by quieter rural areas such as the Yorkshire Dales, where closures have sadly occurred all too often.

It is frankly outrageous that pupil numbers at schools in a place such as Whitby – one of Yorkshire’s flagship towns, bustling with activity – should experience such problems.

Campaigners have warned that it is a knock-on effect from the numbers of holiday lets and second homes.

With fewer full-time homeowners, it makes sense that the schools would have empty chairs.

Residents of the North Yorkshire coastal town recently voted overwhelmingly in favour of having a ban on any new builds being sold as holiday and second homes, though it was not a legally-binding ballot.

Their concern, though, is understandable: figures show that every primary school in Whitby and the outlying villages, with the exception of two, are under-subscribed, with three of those operating at less than half-full.

It is clear from this that life as people know it in Whitby is becoming intolerable.

No longer is it about seasonal issues but the fundamentals: education and the right to attend a school near to where you live; the ability of families to stay together and support one another.

Lifelong Whitby resident Sarah Blackwell, for one, tells this newspaper that she may have to leave her friends and family if she wants to buy a home, because of house prices.

Whitby is world famous – and deservedly so –meaning outsider interest is inevitable.

Its lifeblood, though, is the people who keep it running day to day.

And they must be the priority.