Greenfield School in Woking in Surrey, which was given a £13.3 million loan by the now bankrupt Woking Borough Council, say it does “not currently have funds” to fully repay its debt, Surrey Life has reported.

The council stated that £2.4 million of the loan is due to mature later this month, adding “however, the school may not be in a position to do this”.

The loan to the school has been referred to in the Grant Thornton Public Interest Report, which looked into how Woking council went bankrupt.

A council paper reads: “This is a legacy arrangement and the council has to take the most appropriate action available to it to protect the public interest against the background of the position it has inherited

“No payment is required by the school until November 25, 2024 and there has been no confirmation that the payment will not be made. However, the school has approached the council advising that they do not currently have funds to make full payment and have discussed re-financing options.”

Options available to the school include the sales of properties, but council documents state that the “arrangements around this are complicated” and could take about two years to go through, if at all. Another option for the council is to take over Greenfield assets.