THE Charity Commission has threatened to take action against the council if it does not provide evidence that its plan to build a school on Leyton cricket ground is legal.

The authority has applied to change the use of part of the former Leyton county cricket ground, in High Road, so it can be used for a new 1,700-pupil school.

The council is confident it is able to free the land from the control of a charitable trust, but the Charity Commission has expressed frustration at a lack of information from the authority to prove this.

A letter from the Charity Commission to a local resident says: "The land in question is not owned by the council but rather is administered and managed by the council as charity trustee.

"This does not mean that the council can do what it likes with the land since the land does not form part of the council's corporate property."

The letter, dated May 19, says the commission has not seen any evidence to support the council's belief it can build on the land.

It says the council is refusing to reveal the legal advice it has received to support the opinion that Section 122 of the Local Government Act 1972, which allows councils to appropriate land, applies to the section of the cricket ground.

It says: "In arriving at this conclusion [the council] may have failed to recognise that the Charity Commission is the government body responsible for protecting charity property.

"We would view an attempt to appropriate the land as a breach of trust putting the charity's property at risk."

The letter says the commission is awaiting more information from the council and if it does not respond by May 22 (Friday), it shall consider taking "protective action", which could include instigating legal proceedings against the council.

The Guardian is awaiting a response from both the Charity Commission and the council to confirm if the row has been resolved.

The latest intervention from the Charity Commission will delight residents opposed to the plan.

Marilyn Payne, of the Leyton Triangle campaign group, said: "It seems from the tone of the letter that the Charity Commission is getting rather irritated by the grudging way the council is giving only tiny bits of information.

"The problem for the council is that it knows that its position is legally precarious and is attempting to bluff its way through.

"It is very silly as the Charity Commission are obviously experts in charity law and are dealing with this sort of situation all the time.

"It's encouraging for the people of Leyton to know that the Charity Commission are there to protect the land from people who may try to appropriate it for their own reasons.

"Let's hope justice prevails."

Protestors will this afternoon deliver more than 900 letters of complaint to council officers.

Residents are concerned about the loss of green space, the implications of siting of three schools on one site, and the trust status of the new school, meaning it will be effectively operating out of local authority control.

The council's cabinet last week accepted a recommendation from the overview and scrutiny committee that the authority receives "absolute proof" of ownership of the land before it allows the development to take place.

A council spokesman said the authority owns the freehold to the cricket ground site but would not comment on the Charity Commission's threat of protective action.