A GIANT crane has been dominating views of Great Malvern for the past couple of weeks as work continues on a former school site.

And the crane won't be going away for a while, as development company Audley builds a new retirement community on the site of the former Ellerslie school.

The site, between Wells Road and Abbey Road, will eventually provide 101 apartments for elderly people, as well as community facilities including a pool, health suite, restaurant and more.

Development of the site has been long awaited, with Audley getting planning permission back in 2012. One of the reasons for the delay was the discovery on site of a bat colony, which was solved by creating a heated roost and tree boxes for the mammals.

Work, which started in January last year, is well advanced, and the company hopes the complex will be complete and filled by the end of 2017.

Kevin Shaw of Audley said that the crane will be in place for a while, as demolition and construction work continues.

He said: "We've had a lot of interest in the item, and now we've opened up an office in Worcester Road and a show home on the site itself.

"We've been approached both by local people and by visitors to Malvern."

The site was for many years the home of the girls’ private school Ellerslie. Subsequently it was taken over by Malvern College and used to house its prep school division.