AN academy trust which took over a troubled Southend High School has seen its finances plunged into the red, but insists it is set to recoup cash thanks to a £1.6million sale of land.

Two Legra Academy schools, Cecil Jones and Belfairs academies have huge deficits, latest figures show.

Belfairs went from being £486,495 in the black in 15/16 to £171,898 deficit in 16/17 and Cecil Jones from £690,506 in the back to £156,069 deficit over the same period.

Legra, which also includes Darlinghurst School, took over Cecil Jones in 2015. At the time the school was divided across two sites with the lower school based in Wentworth Road, Southend and Cecil Jones in nearby Eastern Avenue.

Legra chose to consolidate the school into the Eastern Avenue building, leaving the Wentworth site empty until its sale last year.

Legra then spent its own money on revamping Cecil Jones, which was recently kept in retained its special measures status after following a scathing Ofsted report, in the view that the money would be replaced.

The £1.6million sale of the Wentworth site to Southend Council, to be paid in three instalments, did not materialise in time to boost Legra’s the latest financial accounts. The cost of repairing damage caused by a fire in the roof of the library at Cecil Jones last year also had an impact.

Bev Williams, chief executive of the Legra Academy Trust, said: “Some of the money came through before August 31, the last day for filing the figures. The rest came through in the second week of September.

“We made a considerable investment in Cecil Jones. We spent a lot of money on refurbishment, always on the understanding that would be repaid by the sale of the land.

“We are also still waiting for a couple of insurance settlements over the fire. We’re waiting for a settlement of £75,000 for the books we had to replace in the library.”

The former Cecil Jones College Lower School is currently being refurbished.

James Courtenay, councillor responsible for education, said: “Academy trusts are stand-alone charitable entities and as such, the local authority has no control over those accounts.

“The council felt it may be useful for the education board to receive a regular report and as such the first report of this nature was discussed last week.

“Both I and council officers are in close contact with the regional school commissioner and raise concerns on a variety of matters as necessary.”