IT has been a long, fraught saga, but the final plank is now in place which should ensure the future of Deanes School for at least another generation.

Direct central government funding will now be added to the cash promised by Essex County Council, to pay for the refurbishment of the school infrastructure.

Further good news is the school has now almost reached its full 600 complement of pupils.

Under such circumstances, it is hard to believe that less than a year ago, the very future of Deanes as an independent unit was under challenge by the county education authority.

Only in the teeth of a relentless campaign by the headteacher, staff, parents, local MP Rebecca Harris, and this newspaper, did Essex County Council come to see reason.

Now the smoke of battle has cleared, it is even more apparent Deanes was always a viable school. The education authority’s argument that there was insufficient local school population to support its independent existence now seems particularly misplaced.

What Deanes has needed all along is not closure, but investment. The funds heading its way should now provide the refurbishment it does badly need, and underpin its development as a strong centre for both the sciences and the arts.

The broader lesson is that local authorities can make bad evaluations and even worse decisions.